


in your orbit

by NianaiBell



Series: #ourtwoweeksofpositivity [13]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alien Planet, Beach Volleyball, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Blushing, Canon-Typical Violence, Crying, Cuban Lance (Voltron), Day At The Beach, Denial, Dorks, Drunk Shiro (Voltron), Emotional Roller Coaster, F/F, Fancy galas, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Flirting, Flower Crowns, Gamer Lance, Gamer Pidger, Gaming, Gay Keith (Voltron), Ghost Stories, Hunk (Voltron) is a Ray of Sunshine, Idiots in Love, Keith (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, Keith (Voltron) is a Mess, Kinkade and Pidge are bros, Lance (Voltron) Needs a Hug, Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, Lance needs sleep, Lots of flashbacks and references, Lots of introspective time, Love Confessions, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining Keith (Voltron), Pining Lance (Voltron), Romance, Romcom-eque in parts my bad, Romelle is a ray of sunshine, Set after the end of the series (probably), Shiro Gets a Break, Space Dad Coran (Voltron), Space Dad Shiro (Voltron), They all are trying their best here, all the guilty pleasure hc, garrison trio back at it, klance, lance is also bad at feelings, pidge is great, space, supportive
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-02
Updated: 2018-09-02
Packaged: 2019-07-05 14:48:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 24,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15865809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NianaiBell/pseuds/NianaiBell
Summary: Day 13. ConfessionWhy is it scarier to realize you might love someone than actually fighting monsters? Lance doesn't know but is finding himself stuck between wanting to kiss his teammate and going up against a Galra fleet by himself so he won't have to deal with it.-or-Lance has an important realization, Keith does too and thankfully they have a team at their backs to help them figure it out while still saving the universe.





	in your orbit

**Author's Note:**

> Bluberri_pomchi on IG has a wonderful idea started for the current chaos in the VLD fandom. And since I don't art as much I wanted to participate with this little bit. Look for the tags #ourtwoweeksofpositivity to see the wonderful stuff everyone is creating.
> 
> This started out as a typical 1K drabble and completely fell apart. So sorry about the wait but here's a self indulgent piece full of the wonderful cliche's of beach days, fancy balls and mutually oblivious boys.

Lance slumped tiredly against the couch, head tilted back towards the ceiling, eyes screwed shut tight against the glare of the automatic overhead lights of the new and improved castle. His hands found their way up to face, his fists clenched and rubbing his palms almost painfully into his forehead which was already at a dull roar.

He’d been so stupid.

Well not stupid, stubborn perhaps? The actual wording didn’t matter to him right now though, his brain still stuck on one cold realization that had hit him hard less than an hour ago.

He was actively in love with the mullet hair pilot of the black lion.

He had accepted a long while back that he found Keith attractive, even more recently realizing that he enjoyed the other’s personality and had begun to actively seek the other’s company. Which was fine, crushes are one thing and totally bound to happen when you spend that long together in space. But tonight he had been on the verge of kissing Keith goodnight like it was the most natural thing in the galaxy. Which was not fine, because that seemed more like a thing couples would do, not a boy with a crush on his friend.

 -

The two of them had stayed up long after the other paladins had called it a night, citing early morning training drills with the Garrison pilots who were aboard the castle, currently getting a tour of their closest neighbors in adjacent galaxies. Lance had felt no particular need to move, not tired and perfectly content to watch the passing stars outside the ship’s windows. It hadn’t really surprised him either when a familiar warmth had settled beside him, recognizing the smell of space dog that lingered. Lance had wrinkled his nose playfully. “I’m not sure which one of you needs a bath more.”

A warm chuckle had left Keith’s mouth, Lance’s jokes long gone from thorns in his side, now just comfortable quips made to lighten the atmosphere. “Good luck getting him in one spot long enough to do that, I’ve tried.”

“Maybe that could be a team bonding exercise? Catch the wolf and bath him.” Lance suggested half seriously.

He pointedly ignored the flat look on Keith’s face, continuing on with a tilt of his shoulder, “Couldn’t be any worse than the time we had to ride that yalmor.”

Keith seemed to let the wolf bathing fiasco go and followed Lance’s new thread of conversation, “I still can’t believe you guys did all of that. I guess those yalmors were the bigger creatures theoretically speaking.”

The comment gave Lance pause, his face lighting up just a bit, “Did you just make a joke?”

Keith looked off to the otherside, shrugging his shoulders dramatically, doing his best to play it off. A full laugh escaped Lance, shaking his head at the fact he witnessed Keith joking with him. “You totally did, wow Keith. Whatever will the space coalition think?”

Keith groaned, dropping his head into the palms of his hands. He knew the coalition was necessary and mostly great but they could be annoying with their need to constantly label the paladins. How was the coalition even still holding onto that so many years later anyways? Keith frowned, slightly irked at the ridiculousness of the labels. He wasn’t emo, at least not as much anymore? And Lance, he didn’t quite fit the loverboy label either. The red paladin had grown up and seemed to have focus on the person rather than the flirting, and for some reason that made Keith swell just a little. He watched Lance from the corner of his eye, the other throwing what looked like an a garrison issued shoe. “The cadets are gonna be pissed when they get that back.”

Lance shrugged it off, praising Cosmo with rubs and words as the wolf retrieve it again. Keith tried not to pout too much, definitely not jealous that Cosmo would do that for Lance. He’d been trying _so_ hard. “Whatever, it’s probably James and he was an asshole to you at dinner so he’ll have to do with a slobbery shoe. Cosmo and I already agreed, no teeth marks, right boy?” Lance laughed as Cosmo pawed at him, tongue lapping happily at a tanned cheek. Keith shrugged, letting Lance handle it.

The the next few hours elapsed in companionable warmth, spent chatting about ideas for training or wondering how the new cadets would do when confronted with the paladins less than structured lives. Lance was fairly proud of himself, managing to get several full bellied laughs from the usually reserved male, shoulders straightening and smirk at full blast. Keith had mostly sarcastic comments to offer, though Lance was caught off guard by words that could be construed as flirting in another situation, one where it wasn’t _them_ together, because that would be different, weird right? But Lance felt Keith’s gaze on him more frequently than not, and he found himself not opposed to the glint of happiness there. Lance, as he had been for longer than he wanted to admit, felt a familiar burn in his stomach that felt like he had eaten a sun and avoided the flames; warmth so encompassing and adding strange weight to his stomach. He wondered briefly if asking Keith about it would be strange, if the other male would just laugh it off, his smile crinkling up his long healed up scar. Even the thought of Keith laughing irritated the sun in his stomach and Lance had to leave it alone. Besides the two paladins had proven over the last few months that they wouldn’t brush off anything truly important to the other and that thought reassured Lance. Some tiny voice in the back of his mind whispered smokey thoughts, teasing that he was not sure he was ready for the answer he’d probably be able to figure out. Lance just flopped onto his back, brain tired from the day and body heavy with the creeping onset of sleep.

Cosmo had whined from the other side of Keith, teleporting in a flash to land on Lance’s now open chest, belly rumbling with happiness as Lance scratched under his chin. The pressure was nice and Lance was quickly being lulled to sleep from the deep breathing of the wolf atop his belly mixing with the now comforting buzz of the ships mechanical systems and the soft humming from Keith, a tune he faintly recognized as a Spanish song he’d sang before. He teetered on the verge of sleep for a moment longer, not worrying about heavy suns in his belly or attractive boys with quick tongues and space wolves.

Lance was out quickly, body splayed out and breath easing from his chest slowly. Keith watched as his head lagged, falling towards Keith, his suspiciously longer, dare he say _pre-mullet_ hair, falling against his face. The smirk on his face was unconscious just as much as was the lift of his hand, which had been resting close enough to simple brush against Lance’s shoulder. He hesitated only a brief second before brushing his fingertips against the locks, still smooth and a shade resembling chestnut, sweeping them off of his forehead. A sigh from Lance gave Keith pause only for Lance to practically nuzzle into the touch. Keith shook his head disbelieving, wondering if in his dreams it was another person, a woman with gentle fingertips and a bright smile or a maybe a guy with rough hands who were trying their damnest to be soothing. A small part of him hoped that maybe it was really just dream Keith, and that the trust to watch over him while he slept meant something.

Cosmo whined, stretching his front paws and burrowing deeper against Lance’s chest. Keith shot him a mock lock of hurt, mouthing 'traitor' at the wolf.

He let out a slow string of breath, body shifting to hold is weight on his free palm, smiling and content at the moment of peace he’d gotten lucky enough to be a peace of.

He didn’t know how much he needed small moments like this, grateful for all the bumps and bruises that had brought the two of them here. Keith was amazed at how far his right hand man had come, no longer a testy, ready to fight teen into what Keith had always figured was there, somewhere; an intelligent, caring, smart mouth leader and friend. Space had been hard on the entire team, really a bunch of haphazardly thrown together children with family issues. But looking at the them now gave Keith a sense of belonging, knowing his small family was the most capable group of space rangers with hearts of gold and headstrong to boot.

Honestly space was probably the best thing that could’ve ever happened to Keith. He’d learned how to be a part of a team, how to care for people because you loved them. He met his mother, learned about his past, something that had shaped up his childhood. He’d learn to trust the others, realizing they were just looking after each other. He had found friendships and family and he was finally just happy. The thought left him particularly warm, and not shocked at all. He looked down, watching the steady breathing of Lance and Cosmo, calmness seeping in the atmosphere of the moment.

Lance woke up barely ten minutes later, warm and happy. He watches Keith for a moment, memorizing the serene smile on his profile and relishing in the full heaviness of his body. Keith must have noticed the weight of eyes on him, his head turning to the boy beside him.

“I think it’s time to go to sleep.” When Lance doesn’t immediately move Keith rolls his eyes, poking timidly at the other’s forehead. “In an actual bed Lance.”

There’s a playful wiggle to the other’s eyebrows, one meant in complete jest that makes Keith laugh. “You offering yours, samurai?”

Brushing off Lance’s tease, knowing full well that Lance is just procrastinating and tempting Keith into a verbal match (which he will not rise up to tonight, maybe when they’ve both actually had sleep). He stands up, body creaking at not moving for so long, adjusting the floof of his hair. He looks down at Lance with his hands on his hips, voice prompting “Ready?”

Lance just buries his hands in face, voice coming out in a long strung out whine still rough from sleep. “ _Nooooooo_.”

Keith just stares down at the other, waiting for him to rouse himself. One thing he’s learned about the red paladin is that he can poke and prod at the other all he wants but it never works until Lance is ready. Endearing sometimes, frustrating as hell other times honestly.

There’s several heartbeats, Lance unconsciously stretching his legs as far as possible, arms reaching above his head. A tiny hum resounding through his body with his movements. Cosmo disentangles himself, moving to do his own stretches off to the side. He stays there, blue eyes watching nothing at all before he humphs and Keith extends a gloved hand down to the paladin. Lance eyes it petulantly for a second, sighing and grabbing ahold of the offered hand tightly. Keith’s grip immediately tightens, body already tugging the other up fairly effortlessly. Lance ends up toe to toe, eye to eye with Keith’s alert strangely violet eyes, warmth there that Lance couldn’t help but feel reflected in his own. He leaned forward, head bumping Keith’s lightly. “Okay, guess it’s sleep time. Night Keith.”

His body moved on his own, lips pulled in towards Keith’s, eyes already slipped shut. Keith watches him awkwardly from such a close angle, confused to what exactly Lance was doing, mind thrown off track by the light puff of breath from Lance’s lips and warm from where they were connected. He trusted Lance, enough that he knew the other wouldn’t do anything he didn’t want to face repercussions for when he was wide awake.

“Uh Lance?” Keith’s voice, neither encouraging or discouraging his movements, cleared up some of the sleep muddled warmth of his actions and Lance felt his body snap out of autopilot, realizing what exactly he was leaning in for.

Head jerking far back from the danger zone, Lance dropped Keith’s grasp, shoving his hands deep into his pockets, eyeing the ground. He let a moment elapse, gathering and sorting the rush of emotions and heat and thoughts that had threatened his sanity to this point.

Lance could sense the confusion radiating from Keith, knowing the look on the other’s face from being so preoccupied from learning the different reactions of Keith over the years. Eyebrows furrowed in confusion, eyes open and waiting, lips turned down in a frown of worry for Lance. Lance who had just tried to kiss him. He could almost sense the intake of breath from Keith, ready to voice a plaintive are you okay and Lance cut him off quickly, using what he hoped was a playful lit to his voice.

“I guess I am sleepier than I thought haha. Probably need a minute to readjust here. You go ahead Keith, needing your beauty rest and all you know?”

Keith flinched at Lance’s voice, too high a register to be fine, eyebrows twitching at the commentary on his looks right now. He knew Lance was avoiding him, but that was the point of them getting closer, trusting each other. He thought Lance had realized he could trust Keith with anything, not just as team lead, but a his friend. A hand reached out to settle against the broadness of the sharpshooters shoulder, the other flinching under his touch.

“Look Lance, if you’re that tired I can at least wait until you’re awake to help you get back alright. No big deal.” He offered a small encouraging smile, holding the eye contact Lance seemed to want gone.

Lance just shrugged, pretending to stretch and slipping Keith’s hand from his shoulder. “It’s fine Keith, go ahead.”

A small pang of guilt blossomed in his chest, hating the familiar look of hurt and confusion on Keith’s face, deja vu of their bonding moment and Keith’s reaction to the denial of the event. Lance had grown to hate how he had handled that, misreading how it affected Keith and even how he’d judged how he really felt about that. Body sagging, Lance couldn’t help the fondness at just how much Keith cared. He waved his hand at the door, eyebrows quirking up playful. “No no no no, nuh uh. It’s sleep time team leader. Set a good example for this ninja sharpshooter okay?”

Keith sighed, obviously wanting a better answer to the whole situation but settling for Lance’s insistence, leveling his best imitation of Shiro at Lance. “Fine, I will. But if I don’t hear your ridiculous humming coming down the hall in ten I’m sending Cosmo after you. Clear?”

Lance mocked saluted, “Crystal.”

Keith huffed a laugh, tsking to Cosmo and walking out the bay doors. It seemed to click for Lance a moment later what Keith had said, indignant at the remark and yelling at Keith’s retreating back. “Hey! My humming is not ridiculous!” Keith shrugged, smirk at his lips before the doors swished shut behind him.

Lance stood in the now empty bay, body hot from embarrassment, and emotions warring in him. Had he really just leaned in, expecting a goddamn good night kiss from Keith? Lance screamed internally, not sure if he was more upset at the the thought or the disappointed from not doing it.

-

“You doing alright there Lance?”

Lance snapped out of the haze in his brain, the one that had seemed to follow him ever since he had almost kissed Keith last night. He hadn’t slept much at all, finally leaving the lounge almost an hour later, body weary and brain full of contradictions. He’d collapsed on his bed and slept fitfully for a bit before Coran’s voice blared over the intercom to announce breakfast would be in twenty dobasches.

Wearily Lance had gotten dressed, ignoring the bags lingering under his eyes and splashed cold water on his face before joining the paladins and the four new pilots aboard the castle for food.

He stifled another yawn, attention back to the training simulator taking place below, images flickering in his brain of a time long gone when he and Keith had been completely trash at navigating the same maze. Currently he watched Kinkade grunting out minimal directions to Griffin far below. There was a frustrated yelp as Griffin skimmed the edge of an invisible wall. Lance chuckled lowly.

“Yeah, I’m good Hunk. Just didn’t sleep a whole bunch last night.”

Pidge peeked over from her perch on one of the lofty chairs, fingers stilling from logging how the new system update worked; she was currently the only paladin Coran trusted to not break the control panel for a new system test drive. She seemed like she actually got a good chunk of sleep and Lance had to admit he was kind of jealous. Why couldn’t he just ignore strange feelings and sleep through the night?

“That’s why Shiro suggested going to bed early. I’m glad you and Keith are getting on well but dude, you always complain about getting the least about of sleep.”

Lance knew she was right, and if he hadn’t had the internal crisis last night he would’ve argued that. Instead he sighed, slumping just a bit more. “Yeah, I know. It seemed like a good idea at the time.”

Pidge shrugged, a open smile on her lips, “Most things do man.”

Hunk nodded his agreement, eyes far off. “Yeah definitely, like remember that time we thought it was a good idea to rewire Lotor’s robot bodyguard? Good idea in the moment, but my body the next day was sore from the fun.”

Lance and Pidge snorted, remembering the time very clearly and remembering the bruises even moreso.

“How long were you up talking anyways man? I didn’t hear your door before I fell asleep.”

“Ugh, we talked for like two hours, and I fell asleep and then I uh,” Lance was painfully aware that there were more than just Hunk and Pidge here but grateful Keith and Shiro had Rizavi and Leifsdottir. This wasn’t the time or place to get into his muddled brain and he really didn’t feel like he knew enough to even bring it up. He soldiered on, ignoring the looks both Hunk and Pidge shared over the brief lapse in his story. “I woke back up and I went back to my room and couldn’t fall asleep. Maybe I’m just not used to being back in space. Almost eight months on earth really messed with my sleep.”

Pidge let out a low hum, head tilting to the side curiously. “That’s possible. Honestly I’m sleeping better now, Bae Bae is amazing but his breath is awful.”

“Did Keith and you talk about ghost stories again and you got freaked out? Is that why you didn’t sleep well?” Hunk seemed genuinely curious and not reprimanding and Lance shook his head against the idea. “Nope! Besides Keith’s stories aren’t _that_ scary.”

“Uh _yeah,_ they totally are! That one about the black eyed children? Ugh that one still creeps me out.” Hunk shuddered, clearly not happy about the reminder of a particularly strange ghost story Keith had felt the need to tell. A full body shudder ran through Hunk, his face contorting defensively against the memory.

Plan obviously formulating in the green paladin's mind, she slipped out of her chair, a small grin on her face and a glint in her eyes. She moved stealthily behind Hunk, dramatically pitching her voice to a rough whisper meant to mimic Keith’s deeper voice. “And then when they were just on the outskirts of town, far from the light of the city…” She leaned up into Hunk’s ear, blowing on his ear and dancing out of the way quickly from Hunk’s head jerking. “Bam! The boy and girl’s faces had morphed into dead soulless eyes and their skin had turned deathly pale. The hitchhikers were _never seen again_.”

No longer able to hold onto her straight face she burst out laughing, clearly pleased. Hunk whined, body still shivering, “Aw Pidge! I hate that part of the story.”

“To be fair it was way worse when Shiro and Coran were in on it though and they got all of us.” Lance admitted, shivering at the memory. That had been the worst and he refused to admitted the shriek that had escaped him then.

Pidge, finished laughing for now, rolled her eyes, hand on her chin. “But c’mon, if the couple from the story were never seen again, how did we know what they saw?”

“Ah no, Pidge. Not this argument.” Lance groaned knowing Pidge was about ready to investigate the sightings if she could.

She closed her eyes, arms crossed and a knowing smirk on her lips. “”I’m just saying, no one has given valid evidence against that.”

A deep voice resonated behind the group, Kinkade offering his opinion just loudly enough to get their attentions. “No they’re real. My brother has seen them.”

Pidge’s eyes practically glowed, glad to have a real conversation about this. She scrambled over to Kinkade eagerly and propped herself up on the open space of console there. “What’s his story then?”

Hunk and Lance deflated, entirely not ready to have another scary story in their minds.

-

Hours later the castle made it’s set down on a planet known as Matkim, around nine light years outside of their own solar system, a warm welcome awaiting for the paladins of Voltron, now revealed as alive and well.

Keith had split the team up, assigning the them into diplomatic tour groups while Coran and Shiro found the leader of the colony to discuss alliances together. The groups ended up as Lance, Hunk, and Allura with Leifsdottir and Kinkade meanwhile he'd be with Pidge, Griffin and Rizavi. Romelle had voiced being incredibly bored on the ship, quickly signing herself up for an expedition. Knowing Romelle’s tendency to being a little reckless around Allura, he quickly brought her with him, not ready to deal with any mishaps that could occur by Romelle trying to flirt with the Altean and definitely not ready for the “words of wisdom” he was sure Lance wanted to bestow upon the girl. He finalized the groups, moderately sure everyone would be fine.

As each group chatted idly with their assigned local guides, Mit and Inko, Keith had managed to pull Lance aside, body still slightly prickling at not seeing the other paladin for more than a couple bites of breakfast after the weird lapse last night. He crossed his arms and quirked a teasing grin trying to be as casual as possible.

“I was going to ask you at breakfast if you got to your room alright or if you ended up asleep on the floor, since I didn’t hear your humming last night.” Keith teased, watching Lance’s face as he shook his head, noting the tired lines under his eyes.

“No I made it to my room just fine _mom_ , thanks. Just had to figure something out first.”

“Good, I want to be able to count on my sharpshooter and one who spent a night on the floor might have shoddy aim.”

Lance snorted, eyes rolling. “As if, my aim is always fantastic Mullet.”

Keith smirked, “I know. Just wanted to check. But if you need to talk I’m not that far.” Keith tapped his ear, motioning to the earpiece there. Lance shook his head, raising his fist for a bump and smiling when Keith reciprocated with a gentle nudge. “I’m fine, go take care of your team. Watch out for James though, _somebody_ seemed to have gotten a hold of his shoe.”

Keith laughed and the two set off in different directions of the city, following their guides on their determined tour paths.

Keith kept mostly to himself during the excursion, letting Pidge take the lead on conversations. She bounced around, indicating things that had similar designs on Earth and how she was designing new tech centered on that but with a twist or three. The pilots from Earth seemed to enjoy the enthusiasm of the younger paladin, even Inko simply letting the girl explain most of the cities features as he watched. True to her nature Pidge adapted easily in the group, animatedly talking and fielding their questions with no problem. Preoccupied with simply watching the other he didn’t notice Romelle falling into step with him until she spoke up. “So Keith how long are we staying here? The planet seems nice and Pidge seems to be having a wonderful time.”

Jerking a little at the new voice, he quickly refocused on the smiling Altean beside him. A breif glance ahead confirmed it, Keith agreeing wholeheartedly that Pidge was in her element here as she seemed to dart between several odd structures, spitting cool facts about them almost too quickly for the others to understand.

“Ah, there’s a dinner planned tonight, celebrating Voltron’ return and Sendak’s defeat. The council wanted us to stick around long enough to show us how they’ve grown since their liberation. So probably in three quintents?” He watched the blonde besides him, who let out a happy hm at his answer. “Why? What are you planning Romelle?”

She shook her head denying ulterior motives, hair whipping about her. She smiled unconvincingly up to Keith, fingertips tapping in front of her. “No particular reason. Just glad to be out and about!” She stretched her arms above her head, a small pop sounding from her joints to demonstrate her point. She tilted her head innocently, “See?”

There was obviously more though; Romelle's steps achieving an extra bounce and an old Altean folk song spilling from her lips. Which wasn’t _unusual_ he supposed but he sensed the fishiness there. A while later, while the group had stopped at a seller’s booth that Inko seemed to know, she picked up a bushel of baby blue flower that almost glowed in the sunlight. Romelle smelled them, sighing at the scent. “These smell like the flowers back home.” she had almost whispered. Keith watched, happy the girl seemed to think fondly on home. She turned towards Keith, questions falling from her lips quickly. “What did you get Lance when you were planning on courting him? Does he like flowers or is that weird for humans?”

Pidge and Keith instantly froze at the words, disbelieving that they heard the Altean correctly. Pidge’s golden eyes swung up to Keith’s blank face and she doubled over laughing.

“Your face right now is priceless.”

Moment broken, Keith felt heat spread over his face, stomach jittery at the thought of him _courting_ Lance. The blush at his face flared and his incredulous gaze fell on Romelle, who stood there with a lack of understanding over her face, jaw slack and eyebrows raised. “What, is there something wrong?”

Keith, fighting with the catch in his throat, shook his head and tried to phrase it the best he could. “No, it’s okay Romelle. It’s just that Lance and I...we aren’t, courting. He’s not, we aren’t like that. We are just friends and team members.”

Pidge was grinning, eyes flickering between the two aliens, watching as both flushed varying levels of red and so grateful that she wasn’t involved but already ready to report back to the Hunk and probably Shiro. Both paladins were aware of the curious gazes of Griffin and Rizavi behind them, but Pidge doubted they truly understood the impact here. She watched as realization hit Romelle, her free hand covering her open mouth.

“I just thought, you two seemed romantically linked? Or interested at least. My misunderstanding Keith.”

Pidge patted Romelle’s elbow reassuring and tugged at Keith's elbow to snap him out of his stunned silence. “It’s okay Romelle, this was bound to happen.” Pidge leaned in, pretending to whisper and eyebrows dangerously quirked. “Are you asking because you wanna court someone on the ship? Maybe another _Altean_ perhaps?” Romelle practically exploded, shaking her head and muttering things involving ‘maybe’ or ‘I don’t even know anymore.”

In the momentary distraction Keith was finally able to recover, making sure his face had cooled down and that he was breathing evenly again, not wanting Romelle to feel bad over the misunderstanding. He didn’t know if he and Lance really acted like that around each other, but Romelle was just being honest. He reached out, ruffling Romelle’s hair and eyeing the flowers. “Allura would love those. They’re beautiful.”

He hadn’t meant to make her more flustered but the blonde practically squealed against the statement. Eventually the group was able to pull themselves together, Romelle deciding to buy the flowers after all and Rizavi buying several small flowers to make up for the fiasco at the booth, declaring that she would teach everyone how to make flower crowns, which delighted Romelle.

They made to move on, Romelle stopping Keith and producing a small pale flower from the bushel in her hands. She held it up to Keith’s face, the other unsure of what the gesture was for.

Romelle just smiled shyly, “For you, as an apology.”

Keith shook his head, convinced he didn’t need an apology. “Romelle, it’s not a problem, just a misunderstanding.” The girl stubbornly refused to move her hand, tilting her head and eyes pleading. “Just to make me feel better.”

Keith hesitated for just a moment, hanging his head in defeat as he plucked the flower from her grasp. He could feel the resulting gratefulness from her as she turned to hurry to catch up with the rest of the group.

“You could always give it to Lance.”

Keith refused to jump, now noticing the smaller girl next to him. He sighed, hip taking most of his weight and watching anything but the shit eating grin on Pidge’s face.

“Pidge, you know we aren’t like that.” He began tiredly.

Pidge looked up innocently, eyes quickly narrowing like a cat focusing on her prey. “Like what Keith?”

Keith found the heat rising up his neck at the obvious ploy, but refused to give the paladin the satisfaction. “Dating, in love.” He paused, a grimace at his lip. “ _Courting_.” He said the word like it was a goo dinner, lips curling back.

Pidge watched him, giving away nothing from her impassive face. “You didn’t say that you weren’t interested.” she pointed out reasonably.

“I didn’t say I _was_ either.” Keith shot back defensively.

Pidge shrugged, “True.”

There was a silence that hung between them and Keith wanted to slam his head into the nearest wall. He was a paladin and didn’t that exempt him from awkward convos? Because defender of the universe had to had some perks in it right?

Keith pushed his hands through his thick hair, mouth starting to pull into a frown, not particularly good with words or even how sure he’d explain it. “We’re friends, pretty good friends even. Which is far more than I would have thought possible at the start of this.” He looked down at the other, knowing Pidge wouldn’t push too much if he didn’t want this conversation but knowing she was a safe person to talk too. “Isn’t that enough for now?”

“That’s up to you guys, but it is nice to see you two happy.” Pidge smiled, taking the flower from Keith’s loose grasp and tucking it behind his ear. She chucked, obviously proud of herself. “I used to do this with Matt too. He looked like a dweeb.” She gave Keith a considering look and nodded. “You look cute.”

Pidge winked at him, and took off towards the retreating backs of the group, mumbling about how they didn’t even know what they were missing out on. Keith thought about the exchange, something clenching at his chest at the thought of straining whatever relationship he had with Lance scaring him. He shook his head softly, logging it away for future consideration and went to catch up with his team.

-

The groups found each other just before dinner, everyone dead tired from traveling the entirety of the city and the alien farmlands outside of the walls.

Mit’s group had arrived first, the loud laughter inside surprising Keith as he walked into the lobby of the dinner hall. He caught snippets conversation, making his way to the giant circle of people and aliens, settling against one of the back pillars. He heard Hunk beginning the tale of how someone had tried to commit a petty theft and Kinkade and Leifsdottir had managed to corner the guy based on maps they’d memorized and how Lance and Hunk had almost gotten eaten by the theif’s giant toothy cat looking thing before Lance had shot down a overhanging curtain window, stunning the guy before Allura had swiftly tied him up.

Keith watched Lance throughout the story, seeing the other realize the other team was back, eyes scanning the group until he found Keith’s spot off to the back. He quickly disentangled himself from where the mice were lounging on his lap, making his way to Keith excitedly. He greeted Keith with a giant smile and “Hey man! You guys made it, we were beginning to worry.”

The strange conversation from earlier still buzzed in his ears and he gave a short strained greeting, Lance instantly noticing the tight body posture and how Keith wouldn’t hold his eyes. He let out a hot breath and looked down, “Too much people time huh?”

The disappointment was evident in the paladin’s tone and Keith shook the weird feeling long enough to realize that nothing had actually changed between the two, Lance was just being himself and was actually excited to see Keith. Mind already looking to cover for his mistep, he blurted out the first thing he could think up before Lance could interpret his silence as wanting to leave.

“Romelle bought flowers for Allura and Rizavi is gonna teach everyone to make flower crowns tonight.”

Lance cocked an eyebrow, obviously not expecting that. He shifted his weight to one foot, a soft huff of air forced from his chest. “That’s remarkably sweet. Well good for Romelle. She’s a great girl and Allura obviously likes her too. She’s not even _subtle_ about it.” Lance motioned to where Allura and Romelle were currently sitting, Allura grinning as she carefully adjusted the braids atop the blonde’s head.

Lance looked back to Keith, eyes catching at the small flower still there. He reached up without thinking, brushing his fingertips against the soft of the petals. “Is this from the flower crown?” He laughed softly, “It looks surprisingly good.”

The whole situation was completely innocent but Keith felt his stomach warm at the closeness and he did his best to stay still in Lance’s proximity. Again, words left Keith’s mouth before he could think them through, spilling past his lips in a rush. “It’s for you actually.”

He felt Lance’s hand still, shocked from the admission, eyes falling to Keith’s wonderingly. “Huh?”

Keith pulled the flower from behind his ear and moved to place it behind Lance’s ear, just as Pidge had done earlier, moving the strands over to tuck it neatly in place. He laughed at Lance’s expression and cocked his eyebrow, confidence surging, “It suits you.”

“Uh.” Was all that Lance was able to get out before he was being summoned by Coran to help him figure out how to properly put on a bowtie. Keith watched the confusion flit across Lance's face as he walked away, giving the boy a small wave before turning straight into an equally amused and disbelieving Hunk.

Well that was terrible timing.

“So.” Hunk began, smile more devilish than Keith thought was acceptable for Hunk.

Keith flushed, already feeling defensive “It does though.”

“Sure does, the blue matches his eyes huh?” Hunk teased.

Keith missed the intonation there, instead correcting, “No Lance has darker blue in his eyes.” He caught his misstep a moment too late, turning a shade of pink Hunk wasn’t sure he’d seen before, lips pulled down to hold back the smile there. He steeled his face into what he hoped was close to a frown, hedging the other's gaze. “C’mon, we got to get dressed for the dinner.”

Hunk just shrugged, following behind slower. “Whatever you say man.”

Keith tensed at the comment, embarrassed and nerves frayed. “Look Hunk, we are just friends and -.” Hunk cut him off, patting him on the shoulder and pulling him towards their rooms. “Don’t worry man. It’s not a big deal, Lance is cute. Understandable. You guys do what you want, no commentary from us.” Keith felt like dying or fighting a thousand Galra at the moment rather than having this conversation but Hunk just tugged him along. “Seriously don’t worry about it. Let’s just get through this meal in one piece.”

-

Dinner was a much more formal event than what the paladins had previously attended, this time requiring an almost black tie affair.There were vests and long jackets of deep blues, greens and purples, the shirts underneath pastels to matched the suit itself. The paladins had forgone excessive jewelry or decor, knowing it would do them no good in a fight. They did do their best to comb and pin their hair into manageable styles although Pidge’s locks seemed pretty set on fluffing out at the ends no matter what they tried. She shrugged it off, already over having to dress up anyways although she did manage to convince their stylist that she should be in a tux like the rest of her team. She gave the team a small twirl to show off the look and gave a tiny bow at the end. Her team all agreed that the small paladin looked snazzy in her suit and bowtie.

The dinner itself went pretty smoothly, everyone preoccupied with the festivities and the food good enough to hold the rests attention. The visitors were separated out into several tables and thankfully Keith had Shiro and Hunk holding his attention most of the night, offering jokes and small talk with their hosts. It was easy and Keith did his best to pay listen in to the words around him, after awhile finding the noise to be a bit overwhelming. Unconsciously his eyes would slide over to where Pidge, Lance, Allura and Romelle sat. When he accidentally caught the blue of Lance’s eye once, the other shot him the biggest grin and Keith reciprocated automatically. His eyes slid down to Lance’s breast pocket, a familiar flower in place. Keith turned quickly, head sinking to bump against the table and Shiro patted him on the back, trying to check in on the boy.

After dinner Keith watched as Romelle led Allura off to a secluded side of the dance floor, heading towards what he figured was a more enclosed space, Allura holding a bushel of flowers and smiling brightly. He was glad that Romelle was following through with her plan, the two were sweet together and it was far better watching them talk things through rather than beating around the bush.

Keith unconsciously began searching for a head of brown hair, eyes flicking around the crowded ballroom but coming up empty. He did a small sweep of the room, staying to the sides of the room as much as possible. He saw that most of the earth pilots had gathered at one table, Shiro and Coran in deep conversation and he figured that was the best place to start. He hedged his way around most of the guest with little problems, weaving around the dancers and stopping just short of the two men. Coran noticed him first, a giant grin filling his face.

“Keith! Welcome to the party. I trust you’ve tried the moogspots already? This planet is known for them you know.” Coran held up one of the mentioned food items, blue and slimy and slurped it down happily.

Keith shook his head, not particularly keen on trying that right this moment.

“I’ll try them a bit later Coran. Uh, have you guys seen Lance? I need to talk to him about something.” Both a half truth and a half lie. Keith had no real goal for what he wanted to talk to Lance about, just that he wanted to talk to the red paladin who always seemed to be his anchor in particularly hectic times like now.

Shiro watched Coran warily as he gulped down another moogspots, letting out a purr of delight. The pilot shaking his head, eyes watching as the moogsport squirmed in his own mostly empty plate.

“Sorry Keith, I haven’t seen them since the actual dinner ended. You could try the common room where we were before dinner though, I think Hunk mentioned it not too long ago.” He suggested helpfully.

“Of course if the matter isn’t too pressing than you’re more than welcome to hang with us old timers over here! We still have quite a bit of party left in us, eh Shiro?” Coran winked at Shiro, elbow nudging the other teasingly and laughed. Keith was tempted but he found his body was already itching to find Lance. Or Pidge or Hunk he added, just needing to be out of the unfamiliar large group. He shook his head. “I appreciate your offer Coran, but I’ll catch up soon okay? Thanks guys.” He turned swiftly on one foot, heading through the crowd as quickly as he could.

Coran pulled at his mustache, eyes following the boy knowingly. He sighed falling deep into his seat. “Ah to have so much energy again. He’s becoming a fine paladin Shiro.”

Shiro nodded, eyeing the disappearing back of his adopted brother. “He is, he was always meant to do things like this, he just needed some time to figure it out on his own.”

Coran laughed, remembering just how much all the paladins had needed just some tiny pushes and somehow through all of that they had become a team, just like his paladins of old. It was pleasant to see things come so perfectly full circle. The paladins of old would be proud, Coran thought, confident in his opinion.

The two fell into a comfortable silence watching the ongoings of the party around them, suspiciously lacking their paladins of honor. It seemed like no one else truly minded though, everyone engaged in the ongoings of the party.

Shiro casually leaned back in his seat, curious to the conclusion of their earlier conversation, “So about that story you had for clone me in Monsters and Mana..”

There was an instant twinkle in his eyes and Coran was leaning up and onto his elbows, resuming is train of thought, “Well the members of your party had just discovered the giant treasure room.”

-

Keith was relieved to hear the familiar timber of Hunk’s voice in the spot Shiro had suggested. Feet automatically slowing now that he was so close to familiar faces, he came closer to the partial beam of light falling from inside where the voices spoke. The tightness in his chest started to loosened up and he listened in, curious as to what he was walking into.

“But what if that’s not what’s happening at all? What if I’m just making things up?”

That was Lance’s voice, mixed with worry and self consciousness, two things Keith very much did not like in the male’s tone. He felt his skin prickle at the thought of anything that could make Lance feel like that. There was a laboring sigh, Hunk again, Keith suspected. “Man, I can’t tell you what’s happening on his side, but you’re never gonna know if you just talk to me about it. Try telling him, he’d understand.”

Lance laughed, brittle and unamused, instead sounding disbelieving of the thought. “Oh yeah, that would go really well.”

“He’s gotten better about talking to you though.” Hunk pointed out mildly.

“Yeah, but what if I am reading into this and this just makes things weird, I mean I almost already did that remember?” Lance’s voice had dropped, a sad tilt to the words. Keith felt his chest hurting for the boy. Lance was everyone’s support system yet he felt like someone wouldn’t even listen to how he was feeling? That person was an idiot and maybe Lance didn’t need him if Keith was being honest.

“But is it any better for you to suffer through this on your own? Hurting and alone in this or at least trying to figure this out together?” Hunk’s voice wasn’t patronizing, instead genuinely wanting Lance to sort through this.

“Yes, on my own.” Lance answered, although Keith didn’t believe him for a second and moment later Lance was groaning and Keith could imagine the shake to his head through the room. “ _I don’t know_.”

Teeth worrying at his lip, Keith knew he shouldn’t be hovering but he was curious who Lance was referring too. There couldn’t be that many options; Pidge was a girl, Allura and Lance had sorted through their mess of feelings almost five months ago. He was talking to Hunk, so not him. There was very little possibility of it being Coran (Lance had expressed his love for Coran as familia, even introducing Coran to his little niece and nephew).

That left Shiro, a valid option just because Keith knew Shiro was charming and kind and protective and Lance had looked up to him forever. There were now also Kinkade and Griffin too, both attractive, Keith had to admit, and both strong and brave humans. They might have made some kind of impact on Lance over the course of the last couple months, though Keith had hardly known Lance to talk about them. And then there was Keith, hot headed and a boy who had left him multiple times. Keith cringed at the thought, knowing exactly how much that hurt Lance after several heated fights with the red paladin. He hadn’t been steady or reliable enough to stick around and Keith could imagine Lance not being pleased with that. He purposefully squashed down the jealous tug in his stomach at the thought of it. Lance could be talking about someone he'd turned to while Keith was gone and it would be completely fair.

He didn’t know why his chest hurt and his jaw clenched so hard at the idea that Lance was still hurt from Keith’s actions, meant to protect the team at the time were now sore spots for the two of them. Keith would find a way to try and mend things, knowing Lance wasn’t mad but just wary. He had to try. Determination warming his veins.

“What about Keith?” Hunk seemed to switch tactics, Keith’s name surprising him for a moment. _Him?_

“What about him?” Lance sounded miserable and damn if that didn’t sting.

“Lance.” Hunk chided.

“Ugh, I know. But what would he think? That I was gross or naive or misguided? I couldn’t handle that. Not with Keith.” Lance damn near sounded like he was about to cry and it took a lot of willpower to not crash straight into the room and reassure Lance that every one of those things would most definitely _not_ happen.

Mind and body entirely focused on the conversation happening in front of him, Keith didn’t notice Pidge until she was at his elbow. “There you are Keith. Shiro said you were looking for us.”

For the second time today Keith jumped, surprised at the sudden greeting, meeting the golden gaze beside him. “Uh, hey Pidge, yeah I was just looking for you guys and you’re here.” He laughed guiltily, knowing he’d been caught.

Pidge leaned up, pushing some long stemmed flowers into Keith unprepared hands and leaning in to pitch her voice lower, “It’s not cool to eavesdrop man. Just pretend you didn’t hear anything. For Lance’s sake.”

Keith, swallowed still embarrassed by being caught redhanded by the youngest paladin and nodded, tight lipped. Pidge leaned back, voice rising again to announce their joint presence. “You’re just in time, help me get these flowers in so we can finish making those flower crowns.” Pidge shot him a look clearly saying don’t fuck this up, before pushing her way through the partially cracked door, Keith following slowly.

They were greeted by the sight of Lance and Hunk sprawled across the floor, half made flower crowns in hand and surround by buds and petals from every color on the rainbow. Keith noticed that Lance’s eyes were indeed red, confirming the suspicion of tears. Hunk seemed surprised at the two newcomers, dark eyes darted between Pidge and Keith.

“Keith! Nice, you can help us make flower crowns too! We’ve got a lot to make since we are doing one for every member of Voltron and the new pilots too. Rizavi said she was gonna gather the others and they’d come help.”

When Keith didn’t move an inch from the door, body awkward and still, Hunk eyed him suspiciously. “You have made flower crowns before, right?”

Keith jerked his head, unconfident at his ability to do so well, he voiced the thought to the room which just made Hunk chuckle. Lance sighed a long suffering sigh and scooted over enough to make room for him. “What did they even _teach you_ out there in the desert? C’mon and I’ll show you how a pro does it.” Lance teased, his voice still tired but apparently determined to not let it catch on. Keith did as he was instructed, moving into his designated spot between Hunk and Lance.

After several failed attempts on his first one Lance had laughed, taking the crown into his hand and showing Keith the pattern to get the vines to interlock. His hands worked slowly, methodically and Keith just watched in awe, fairly certain he couldn’t replicate that tenderness on flowers. Lance handed the crown back, told him the worst he could do was make a sad garden hat and proceeded to continue on his own flourishing piece.

Almost ten minutes later the rest of the pilots had dropped in, Rizavi looking proud of herself as she lead three rather uninterested team members in. She dropped to sit comfortably on the ground, close to Lance’s leg, gathering supplies. and divvying them up to the new pilots.

Lance nodded approvingly, watching the girl take charge of her comrades. “I’m pretty impressed you managed to get everyone here.”

She smiled mischievously, shrugging her shoulder. “I may have told a bit of a lie to get them to agree, but whatever.” The comment didn’t seem to surprise Leifsdottir or Kinkade but Griffin rolled his eyes, hand supporting his chin dramatically. “Of course.”

Rizavi laughed, “It worked didn’t it?”

Griffin pouted, looking up to the girl disinterestedly, “Cultural customary welcome flower crowns my ass.”

Rizavi grinned, eyes alight and body taunt on victory. " _You_ were the one that wasn't paying attention when I bought these."

Lance and Keith both snorted at the poorly crafted lie and it's success. By now Keith had just gotten the hang of weaving the steams and was working through lacing beautiful purples of all varieties through it, lavender look alikes to plum purples. He spared a glance at Lance and Pidge, the two working on their thirds. Hunk was wrapping up his second and Keith felt like dying.

Rizavi managed to whip up two fairly quickly, depositing one on Griffin’s grouchy face, unfazed as his attention was honed in on the one he'd been steadily working on. Kinkade had just about finished his when Leifsdottir placed down her third, looking mostly satisfied at her work.

The two groups got along fairly well, Keith watched as they overlapped into conversations with one another. Pidge seemed to have taken a liking to the two females, ecstatic about seeing badass females and tech experts on top of that. Hunk was in the midst of swapping stories with Griffin, _ohhhing_ and _awwing_ in just the right places and adding his own dramatic retellings of their time in space that Griffin seemed pretty invested in by the end of it. “So you guys basically defeated an evil sea serpents and freed a mermaid queen?”

Rizavi whistled unbelieving, “That sounds like stories they tell little kids!”

Hunk puffed up his chest a bit, happy to have these stories as memories now and definitely not living them. “Well, yeah. It all did seem kind of surreal. Mermaids, evil sea serpants, mind control, rebel mermaids that totally digged us? Definitely seemed unreal. But I couldn’t of done it without Lance. Right buddy?” Hunk leaned back, fist raised for a fist bump which Lance gladly gave. “Anytime Hunk buddy.”

Keith smiled, the anxious feeling had finally easing off his chest and glad to see Lance having a good time, shoulders laying flat and face expressive. He watched as the male got up and wander over to sit between Griffin, clearly struggling, and Kinkade who seemed at peace just working at his own pace. As Lance excitedly pointed out particular flowers that caught his eye in Kinkade’s piece, the larger male smirked, giving one word responses and prompting Lance into talking about his family, which Lance happily deviled into. Eventually Lance took pity on Griffin who was still stuck weaving his own fingertips through the crowns, coaching him through the motions.

The easiness of Lance’s demeanor was obviously a welcomed addition to the pilots, each seamlessly folding into casual comradely with the red paladin. The pilots had obviously found similar endearing qualities of Veronica and Lance and adopted him just as quickly. Lance had definitely been a fantastic brother back on Earth and his entire movements radiated brotherly vibes while helping the pilots. Keith smiled proudly, enjoying watching Lance try to politely correct Griffin’s heavy handed methods and laughing along with Rizavi’s quips. Eventually Lance sighed, shaking his head and telling the other he’d figure the rest out pretty easily, getting up to return to his spot by Keith, settling in breezily.

“That was fun to watch.” Keith commented from his spot next to Lance. Lance chuckled, fiddling with the flowers on his most recently completed crown; deep reds, oranges and yellows with several pastel blues thrown in. Honestly the crown reminded him of Coran. The trueness of the thought made Keith bite back a laugh because of course Lance put thought and detail into his flower crown making.

“Yeah, you know they aren’t half bad, for _Garrison students_.”

“We are sitting _right_ here, and you guys were also Garrison students at one point.” Rizavi reminded him pointedly.

Lance let out a small pfft instead turning to examine how Griffin was faring. “Eh, he should probably stick to flying though.”

Griffin puffed up, calling back a defensive “I’ll figure it out!”

Lance paused, watching Keith’s face for a long moment, enough time passing that Keith was beginning to wonder if Lance had completely zoned out or was turning to stone.

“Something on my face?”

The other boy rolled his eyes, reaching behind him in his completed pile to dig out the first crown he had made, a fiery red one with flowers that looked like flames surrounded by deep enough purples to resemble black. Lance considered it for a moment before moving to place it atop Keith’s head, pressing softly into the swept back curls to steady the flowers. He sat back on his butt, sizing up the whole appearance before nodding his approval and leaning his weight back onto his palms. “It suits you, Mullet.” He echoed back familiar words from before dinner, the tiny pale flower still in his breast pocket.

Keith rolled his eyes and motioned for Lance to lean in. Lance compiled willingly, moving into Keith’s usually stiff personal space. Keith took a moment flipping over the purple creation in his hands and setting it atop Lance’s curls. Lance looked taken aback, eyes owlishly wide and lips parted, watching Keith’s face.

“It’s not great, but I tried and I made it with you in mind anyways.”

Lance tapped against the leaves in his hair, face happy but questioning. “I figured this would be for Shiro since, he’s you know, your family.”

He just shook his head, “Nah, he’ll be teary eyed just getting one honestly.” Lance just looked at him and laughed, adjusting the crown on his head slightly before picking up the remaining completed one. He shot Keith a quick wink, giving a quick thanks before he stood up, circling the room and picking up everyone’s extras that were currently not being worn and dividing them out to Pidge and himself.

“Okay, as promised, Pidge and I are gonna go deliver these. Thank you all for your tremendous efforts for our team building exercise tonight.” He bent into a deep mock bow and was scooting out the door with Pidge before anyone has a chance to respond.

Everyone collectively collapsed into the hard marble like floor, sighing from the incredibly long day. It’s an amusing sight, Keith thinks, to see all of Earth’s greatest protectors melting into the floor with formal wear and flower crowns. It makes his grin, amazed at what his life has become out here in space.

-

Hours later, Keith is hanging out in the lobby of castle, determined to teach Cosmo at least one trick, currently attempting to shake paws, when Shiro and Coran come through the door, both with a slight wavers in their steps and giggling. To be fair Coran looks far worse off, face and ears tips red and laughter wobbly. He’s got the orange and blue crown on and Keith feels his heart warm imagining how that gift giving went. Shiro, only slightly tipsy as far as Keith can gauge except for the stumble in his step and the warmth coating his face, stalls and greets Keith warmly.

“There you are Keith. I’m guessing you found Lance after all?” He moves to drop down heavily into the couch cushions next to Keith, Coran misjudging and falling into a slump on the other side of Keith. Cosmo wanders over warily, taking a whiff of the Altean before shaking his head and retreating to Keith’s feet.

Keith nods, hand unconsciously reaching to the flower crown still atop his head. “Yeah, he ended up making me this. I see you both got yours.” Keith tries to keep the proudness out of his voice, but he figures neither of the other men really care at this point.

Coran practically starts crying right then, grip crushing the bushel of flowers to his chest. “What a sweet boy. Truly an honor to fly with him.”

The black paladin’s eyes swing over to Shiro slyly, a shit eating grin on his lips. “Did you cry this time?”

Shiro shakes his head no, but Coran spills his secret, obviously not catching the glare sent his way. “Ah he tried to hide it behind a hug so strong I heard the boy’s back pop but there were beautiful tears in his eyes and who could blame Shiro? It was such a touching moment.”

The two newcomers proceed to engage Keith the best they can although it isn’t long before Coran breaks into a song and dance, challenges Shiro to a dance battle and does a couple of push-ups before falling fast asleep face first into the couch. Shiro does his best to fight the darkness of sleep before eventually slumping over, completely passed out. Cosmo and Keith end up teleporting the two men to their rooms, tucking them in the best he can before deciding it was time to call it a night before anything else can possibly happen. He’s out before his head hits the pillow, Cosmo curled up in a ball by his side.

\--

Their second day passes in a blur of diplomatic meetings, public outings and a revolving door of meetings with the planets inhabitants that leaves the team in a blur. They shuffle between who goes where and none of them really get a chance to talk until much later that night, around dinner aboard the castle where Pidge and Leifsdottir are chatting about the sights they say around the planet on their last tour.

“Yeah but I’ve never seen things like ice volcanoes? No to mention that it’s less than 100 km from the city. That seems unusual.” Pidge voices, actively invested in the conversation as she pushes around the remaining seasoned goo on her plate.

The other nods, eyes tracking the motion. “Indeed, unusual by Earth standards, but the ice would melt with just a couple more degrees, melting into the local river and letting out at their ocean just 15km outside of the city.”

Instantly Lance perked up, fork hanging from his lips, very much attuned to the word _ocean_. “Wait so there’s a beach 15km away and we haven’t gone? I haven’t been to the beach since we were on Earth.”

Hunk, instantly on board for a day of sun, fun and relaxation, looks to Shiro, eyes pleading. “Dude, you said the only thing we had to do tomorrow was the photo op right? Can’t we go for a little bit after that since we have the whole rest of the day free?”

Lance turns the full force of his pleading eyes to Shiro, lip pouting. “C’mon Shiro! We all could use a break before we end up on our next planet.”

“Oh we could play volleyball!” Hunk calls excitedly.

Rizavi nods her head approving, arms crossed over her chest. “ I could kick some butt in volleyball.”

“Or study the marine life and swim!” Pidge agrees.

Romelle practically bounces out of her seat, excitedly wiggling around in her seat. “I did love the sand castle making.”

"I want to look at the shells here." Kinkade adds solidly.

Lance stretches back against the chair languidly, already imagining the sun warming his skin. He turns a sly eye to Shiro, voice slick as he played his trump card. “You could even take a nap out there.”

Shiro takes a moment to deliberate, clearly torn between wanting to be on guard and also very much understanding the want to go the beach. He rubs his chin, eyeing the occupants of the table. They had finished most of their responsibilities and a day off at the beach wouldn’t be the worst thing to do together.

The argument is brief in his head, pros far out weighing the cons and he lets out grin of approval. “I guess tomorrow is a beach day.”

Just about everyone in the room erupts into cheers, Lance practically crying into Hunk’s arms and Keith and Pidge fist bumping excitedly. A day in the fresh air and sun sounds like exactly what they all need.

-

The photo op is over before the sun has finished rising, every member of the team excitedly buzzing through the morning. After the events of the last two days, everyone is on their best behavior and manages to leave a glowing impression on the inhabitants of Matkim. From wake up on everyone seems to be in bright spirits. More joking around and more a bit more likely to laugh and it’s a welcomed moral boost for the whole team.

When everyone is finally on the beach itself, toes sinking into not yet burning lavender colored sand and looking out over pale pink water, its feels like a weight has been lifted from the collective shoulders of the team. Lance challenges Keith to a race to the water, chin tilting upwards in a remarkably sly look that has Keith simultaneously grinning and flushing, feet already moving towards the water’s edge.

The race ends in a tie, Lance claiming Keith had cheated and splashing the pale ocean foam at him playfully. By the time Hunk and Romelle come come jogging over, the two boys are already soaked from head to toe and are laughing hysterically. Keith and Lance share a conspirator look before teaming up to soak both of the new arrivals. Romelle manages to create waves of her own with her superhuman strength, dowsing all of the boys, giggling when the come up for air. Hunk has a put on pout at his lips, “You were supposed to be on my side Romelle.” She giggles, apology light and already working up another wave.

Pidge and Allura wander the length of the beach, examining shells and whatever sea creatures they stumble upon, the two deep in conversation the entire time. After a bit of walking, Pidge finds a couple of crustacean like creatures, picking them up and pretending to act out a scene and Allura doubles over in tears before it becomes a game of finding ocean materials to create a skit and seeing who can get the other to crack first.

Up at the flattest spot they could find Rizavi and Kinkade begin setting up a makeshift volleyball court, mapping out the lines of the court with their toes. Griffin is already buried deep in purple sand, Leifsdottir having buried him up to his chest and creating the outline of the pile to resemble a crab. Coran quickly jumps in, suggesting a couple of edits and the two talk about the pros and cons of space whales while arranging the sand into new creatures every few minutes. Further down the beach, Shiro pulls out a hovering butt pillow, dipping his feet in the water and adjusting to find his most comfortable spot before leaning back for a long rest.

By the time the paladins at the water emerge sopping wet, Rizavi is waiting for them, hand on her hip and makeshift volleyball in her other hand. “We are just about ready to play, you guys in?”

Lance and Hunk agree in an instant, both seemingly pulling on their infinite energy reserve. Keith swallows down the remaining ocean water, resisting the sting in his eyes and heart needing a moment to recover after seeing and touching that much bare skin on Lance. He shakes his head, wet hair slinging water droplets. “I’m out. Need a moment.”

There’s a fake pout at Lance’s lips, blue eyes challenging. “What are you tired already team leader? Weak.” Keith shots him a grin, shaking his hair out and onto Lance’s bare skin. He rolls his eyes, easily giving in. “I’ll sub in or something.”

Romelle raises a hand, nodding her agreement. “I also need a moment, the water is very exhausting.”

“Cool, I think that makes it MFE pilots against you two, Allura and Coran.” Rizavi ticks off the name on one hand, clearly looking ready for a good match.

Lance whistles low, loving the combination of Allura and Coran on their team. “You guys better be ready, Allura is a beast at most sports and Coran is something else all the time.”

Rizavi shrugs good naturedly, turning to lead the way to their court. “Cool, a challenge makes things interesting.”

They all begin the trek, Lance falling in step with Keith. “You sure you good man? You took some hard waves to the head from Romelle’s monstrous strength.”

Keith pointedly ignores looking over to watch the movement of Lance’s hips as he walks or the simple confidence in his shoulder, watching the retreating back of Rizavi instead. “Yeah I’m great, just waiting to see you get your butt kicked by those Garrison graduates.” He teases, chuckling when Lance elbows him gently in the ribs.

“Excuse you, but we are all honorary Garrison graduates thanks to the whole ‘ _piloting the mecha defender of the universe and saving the world thing_ ’.” He puffs out his chest, obviously making a show of it.

Hunk throws an arm the both of them, guiding them along with a quiet drive. “Oh yeah, official for sure. But be prepared to be disappointed Keith, I have’t lost a volleyball match yet.”

“Don’t jinx it Hunk!” Lance shushes him dramatically, fake gasping at the words as if they actually held any bearing on the game. Keith rolled his eyes, glad to just be watching from the sidelines because he had a strong feeling this would be entertaining.

As Lance and Hunk start high-fiving Allura and Coran, Keith collapses besides Shiro, who has pulled his chair high enough up the beach to watch the challenge. Keith shifts his weight onto his palms, feet digging into the hot lavender sand, body relaxed and warm. He honestly can’t remember the last time he had a chance to simply just enjoy the sun and fresh air without the underlying buzz of danger on the horizon. He likes it. Beside him there’s a small almost purr of happiness and he watches as Shiro adjusts the wide brim sun hat over his pale hair, gifted to him by Romelle and Hunk as a thank you for going to the beach, a small happy smile in place.

“You sure you’re not going to fall asleep out here?” Keith teases him, knowing Shiro is actually grateful for the downtime and could actually use a nap.

“With the Allura-Coran-Lance-Hunk dynamic? I’m sure it’ll be a show.” He laughs, entertained by the thought. “Wouldn’t want to miss that.”

Keith doesn’t respond, content to watch as Lance leads the rest of the team through some warm ups. Keith’s glad Lance seems better today, no dark circles outlining his eyes and the pep back in his step. It makes him smile as he watches the other working through the warm ups.

The stretches do wonders for his body and Keith hadn’t noticed how Lance had filled out into lean rather than lanky, muscles now covering his limbs in not completely unattractive lines. His eyes wander over the other as he stretches, admiring the clean lines and arcs of the other’s body. He vividly remembers being in the water too, hands accidentally mapping out Lance’s body and feeling his arms and chest. Keith is embarrassed by the flush that crawls it’s way up his face, settling in firmly at his throat and tongue. Because this was Lance, and he’d always been off limits. He was his teammate, one of his best friends. Difficult at times, loud most of the time but determined and comforting. Definitely not someone Keith was allowed to feel things for. He shook his head, Lance was definitely not someone he should just be staring at like that.

But over the last several weeks, months even he supposed, Keith had found himself being pulled to Lance in every situation, glad to have his wide smiles and terrible jokes directed at his as much as he enjoyed Lance’s inadvertent small touches; ruffling his hair, the gentle pushes after a particularly strange remarks, the hand that would find its way to his shoulder whenever Keith was too quiet or distant. It was addicting to have Lance’s attention so fully on him, more friendship than rivalry. He got to see the charming and intelligent side of Lance and it did things to his chest, clenching his heart and making his tongue heavy sporadically. His head began to feel heavy, slowly sinking backwards until Keith was looking up at the foreign sun.

He knew the word for what he was feeling, not completely new to the idea of love. He’d finally found Krolia and got to experience the maternal love he craved, basking in it and accepting the idea of love from another. And after countless times of literally and figuratively saving one another, he’d accepted Shiro as the brother he’d never biologically gotten but grateful the universe had stuck him with. He’d even talked to Korlia about what she had felt about his dad, what made him special out of the entire galaxy. He found those very words fitting into the shape of Lance and his place in Keith’s life. It was a little overwhelming and at first highly questionable because of how they’d started. But events from the last couple days flashed in his head; laying with Lance in the castle’s ship and feeling at home, Lance with purple flowers in his swept back curls and laughter on his lips, at breakfast with a bleary eyed Cuban boy with a mess of hair and terrible jokes too early in the morning.

All things just very much Lance. 

The memories squeezed his chest in a painful way, shouting to him that he wanted that all the time. He wanted to wake up to that ridiculous freckled face and bright grins and to be the one that Lance turned to for comfort or after a particularly grueling day. He wanted to be beside him when he looked so triumphant over hitting an impossible target or learning a new form of his bayard. Wanted to kiss Lance after his jokes or before he fell asleep and in the quiet spaces of the universe they would no doubt be visiting.

He was aware of Shiro next to him, complete calm radiating off of him in contrast to Keith’s inner voice. He knew Shiro was there for him, always had been and he wondered if it would actually help to talk to him. He inhaled for a moment, holding the breath their before exhaling and forged ahead.

“I think I love Lance.”

Keith watched the volleyball game tip off, Coran serving up a powerhouse of a serve that went sailing past a stunned Rizavi and Griffin. He saw Shiro inhale, obviously thinking how to respond to Keith’s declaration. He let his gaze slid over to the younger male, a simple smile on his face.

“Oh really? What brought you to that conclusion?” He asked evenly.

“I’m not sure, but I don’t think it’s recent. His always been irritating and hard to ignore, but now.” He shrugged as nonchalantly as he could. “I don’t want to ignore him, I want to be around him all the time and even the irritating part is fleeting.”

“Hmmm, that does sound interesting. Are you sure you don’t just miss him after spending the last eight months with just me and Krolia whenever she could stop by? You guys were pretty close before Lotor’s, uh _inclusion_ here.” Shiro was being practical and making sure to keep Keith’s best interest in heart.

Keith shakes his head dismissively, his much too long hair brushing his cheek. “I _did_ miss him, I missed everyone. Especially Hunk’s affection and Pidge’s pranks. But I didn’t want to kiss them when I saw them again. Just Lance, even if he made the worst entrance when we all got together again.”

Shiro laughs obviously reliving the memory. “Didn’t he finger gun at you?”

“Yeah and told me my mullet was even more luscious than the last time I saw him.”

There’s a snort beside him, Shiro covering it up as a sneeze. “True love indeed.”

They continue to watch the match, Leifsdottir diving for the ball and Kinkade bringing it back into play. Allura taps it back over and into the sand, cheers going up from the paladins. Keith smirks as they all high five, noting Pidge has returned and she and Romelle have starting keeping score in the sand. The MFE’s are still ahead by a point.

“You don’t sound surprised.” Keith manages after a while, curious at Shiro’s lack of a response.

“You didn’t either and you’re the one in love with him.”

“Okay fair. It just wasn’t shocking. He’s always been him, and he’s always been here. After a while I realized he wasn’t half bad.”

Shiro hasn’t moved much at all during the conversation, body lax against the chair. He finally does shift, stretching his legs out and into the sand, wiggling his toes as the sand falls of him. “Keith, you know how you feel better than anyone, and I trust you’ve thought about this. You two have come remarkably far. He’s become an outstanding paladin and so have you. I don’t think it’s surprised anyone that you two have had a bit of a different bond.”

The words are familiar ones, smooth from repeated use in his own head but in different phrasing but he recognizes the truth there. It is comforting to have it coming from Shiro though.

Hunk goes for a spike which Kinkade is somehow prepared for, returning it with easy grace and the ball hits the sand on the paladin's side.

“So what are you going to do about it?”

Keith’s head drops into his folded arms, twist at his lips. “That’s where I’m stuck. I don’t know. We’ve already talked about how I like guys and Lance just responded ‘dude me too’. So I guess that’s something. But what if he likes dudes that aren’t me?” Keith is starting to overthink it and he knows it, hearing as Shiro sighs.

“So what do you do about that? Do you want to do anything about it or did you want to be patient for him to do something?” Shiro prompts easily.

Keith laughs, brain simply supplying “I wanna do something pretty stupid.”

He can feel Shiro’s eye roll for where he is. “But I’m going to talk to him, he’s usually pretty good at that and I don’t want to mess this up.”

There’s a proud tilt of Shiro’s lips, a slight ‘ _awww_ ’ escaping him that Keith rolls his eyes at. Keith feels better about it, knowing he’ll be able to face Lance confidently and hoping that there’s something there for them both. Shiro’s always been there to listen and Keith is happy that he has that. He promises he’ll try to be a little nicer to the other whenever he’s teasing him.

They watch the game for a while, seeing the score flip flop sides and watching as Coran eats some serious sand. Griffin and Nazavi seem into the game while Leifsdottir is scary to watch, her tosses precise and calculating. Not long after Coran eats sand they call a time out, the Altean wobbling over to the onlookers. He pats Keith’s back, nodding up to the court. “Alright Keith! Go show those MFE pilots who the real pilots are around here.”

Keith looks up to the court, Lance and Allura watching him with matching grins. He warms at the attention, shaking his head. “Nah this is all you guys.”

Lance cups his hand over his mouth, projecting. “C’mon man! You said you’d sub. Unless you think we’d be better on our own than you playing.”

His eyes narrow, miffed at Lance remembering that but not able to remember _Keith cradling him in his arms_. He huffs, standing up stiffly and makes his way over to the cheers of the paladins and Coran.

Truth be told, he’s not too shabby. He had been nervous because it’s been so long since he’s played volleyball and it’s not necessarily his best sport. But he finds an easy enough groove with his team, easing into the passes and hits. He finds it tiring to exert so much energy in the game and he’s never seen Allura or Hunk that fired up for anything. He gets swept up with their energy, cheering whenever they manage to score. He and Lance actually do pretty well, passes unspoken and Keith there to help cover the empty space between them. Allura pats his shoulder excitedly after a solid play, pretty grin lighting up the court and Keith has to blink back the against the emanating brightness.

The MFE pilots are obviously pretty good, they have solid teamwork and keeping pace with the paladins. The score has slightly slipped in their favor, the paladins all groaning. Griffin serves the ball, aiming between Allura and Lance, Allura indicating she’s got it, but Lance’s feet trip over each other in the sand and he unfortunately has Allura’s hip knock into him, sending him even more twisted over his long legs and Keith stupidly reaches out to catch the other. Unfortunately Lance has too much momentum and Allura has apparently too much hip strength cause Lance goes down, Keith under him. Lance uses his forearms to brace against the sand and keep Keith’s head tucked under his chin. Keith still has his arms around Lance’s torso, a failed attempt at catching the other. Their legs tangle as they end up in the sprawled in the sand. Lance has his eyes blown open wide when Keith finally manages to open his. Lance’s hot breath fanning across his face equal parts annoying and tempting. Keith is still breathless from the fall and he uses that as his excuse for the uneven breathing. Lance is so close and if Keith was seriously going to do something stupid he’d be tempted to do it right now, just reach up and pull down that ridiculous pretty face to kiss at his open lips.

Lance is already flaming red by the time sound resumes in both of their ears, his voice winded as he asks if Keith is okay. Keith can’t do much more than nod his head, very much not alright. Soon they see Allura’s shadow fall over them as she helps both boys up, apologizes falling quickly from her mouth as well as several Altean words that have Coran sputtering behind them. Keith hears Pidge laughing, the girl unbelieving of the romcom she’s apparently caught in

Hunk is there shortly with water for both boys, encouraging them to gulp it down, and hitting them both on the back in congrats for an epic mishap. Lance is already brushing the sand off his arms, eyes pointedly focused on the task and face still red. Keith can’t help the fond smile as the other still tries to brush sand out of the ponytail on Keith’s hair.

Someone in the universe is just being cruel is all Keith thinks as he watches Lance brush off the last remaining bits of sand off his body, hair tousled and face hot.

The game resumes after that, the paladins mostly settled again and the MFE pilots ready to finish the game.

They battle it out for a while, the sun moving across the sky before the MFE pilots sink their last ball inside the boundaries at Keith’s feet. With that they reach the agreed upon 25 points and win. Lance almost balls and Allura is back to cussing in Altean. Keith is disappointed, but not nearly as much as the rest of the team. Romelle wanders over, hugging Allura around her waist. “You did your best! That was an exciting game.” Allura smiles warmly, head bumping the blonde’s softly in thanks and her hands sliding up to hold Romelle’s arms.

Pidge arrives, shaking her head in disappointment. “I can’t believe you lost.”

“Yeah because Hunk _jinxed_ it.” Lance mumbles.

Dramatically falling to his knees, Hunk lets out a dramatic bellow, hands in his hair. “I failed you all. How am I supposed to be a defender of the universe like this?” He hangs his head in shame, fake crying into the sand. Lance pats his back playacting, eyes rolling fondly before he tugs Hunk up by one brawny forearm. “Well Hunk, you could always pay us back by making that choice alien taco food.”

Pidge is chiming in her agreement just as quickly, eyes alight. “Oh this time can we use some of that peanut sauce we made last time?”

Hunk sighs dramatically although the smile is still present on his face as he tightens his headband determinedly. “You guys got it. Alien space tacos it is.”

Everyone including the MFE pilots give a bit of a cheer, bellies already rumbling at the thought of the food to come.

-

The next morning everyone is gathered on the bridge, awaiting the command sequence to take the ship up and through the planet’s atmosphere. Everyone seemed pleased to be leaving, grateful for the experience but not used to so much attention directed at them for so long and exhausted from their day of beach going. It reminded the paladins of their time as performers for the coalition and it gave them all a collective shudder at the thought.

Everyone stands idly, waiting for Coran to boot the ship up and watching as Shiro stands at the mantle, sifting through the days projected course with Leidoitter spouting off information regarding the weather around the planet and wind conditions. Off to the side Allura, Romelle, and Pidge sat together, talking quietly among one another. Pidge lets out a whooping laugh and Keith watched as Allura and Romelle both seemed to try and hush the girl, faces matching shades of scarlet.

Razavi, Griffin and Kinkade stood by the windows, watching the outside world and memorizing the look of the planet for future reference for stories for back home.

Hunk and Lance were practically draped over one another, both boys tired and bored. The space mice ran along the length of the two combined paladins, doing tricks and stunts to amuse the two. Gentle laughs escape both boys, jostling the mice.

Keith watched, content at seeing everyone still in one piece and such a sense of domestic that it hurt his head. The tics went by, everyone beginning to worry at how long this was taking. The ship hadn’t made any sounds registering it’s commands and nothing buzzed within the hull of the ship. That didn’t sit well with anyone and everyone began to sit up a bit straighter.

“Uh, does anyone remember this part of the lift off from last time?” Hunk questioned, already moving up and sliding Lance off of him.

“This doesn’t seem right.” Keith agreed, unconsciously moving towards the control panel, where Shiro seemed to be growing more concerned.

“What are you showing on your screen Coran?” Shiro asked, fingers still moving through screen after screen, frown deepening by the moment.

Coran for his part was flipping between several different display windows, all reporting nothing back to him. He grew frustrated that the castle wasn’t talking back to him, yelling back. “Nothing on this end Shiro. She’s showing normal operations but won’t respond to take off commands. It’s very strange.”

Allura joined the two, opening up a telepathic link with the castle. “I’ll see if I can talk to the ship.” Her body lit up, body glowing white as she tried to communicate with the castle. Her frown matched Shiro and Coran’s, eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

Lance had shifted to Keith’s side, eyes glancing to catch his gaze. “I don’t have a good feeling about this man.”

Keith nodded his head in agreement, face purposefully blank. “Me either, the systems were running fine last night though.”

“Maybe she needs to be recharged? She’s a massive ship.” Lance supplied.

“She hasn’t needed that before? And Coran would’ve been able to pick that up on scans.”

Lance hummed, arms crossing his chest. “Yeah true.” He looked back to the three figures currently trying to get the ship running, dread running through his body and something prickling along his neck. “I’m sure they’ll figure it out. But there is something off about this whole thing.”

Keith agreed with a small grunt, watching the ships screens come up frustratingly blank. He looked over to Pidge, who was already up and plugged into the computers systems, fingers tapping as she searched for an answer. A couple minutes passed, everyone exchanging quiet whispers of suggestions. Pidge looked up suddenly, mouth open. “Uh guys?”

Shiro called back over his shoulder, eyes still working through repeated keys to get a response from the ship.

”Not liking the sound of that Pidge, what you’d find?”

“We’ve been hacked. Someone’s put a block through our ships command and is probably able to access our controls. I don’t think she’ll fly until I can get around this.” Pidge grunted, encountering another scrambled code with unfamiliar symbols. “Someone planned this.”

Keith watched the instant fight in everyone’s demeanor, ready to go. Beside him Lance practically bristled. “Someone kept us here. Probably buying time to spring a surprise attack. Ugh, no way.”

It made complete sense and Keith was already going into a game plan, if they really had been tricked and they were sitting ducks right now…

“I think Lance’s idea might be correct.” Romelle announced from her spot by the windows.

“What makes you think that?” Rizavi asked from the other side of the ship.

“Well, there’s about a hundred what I assume to be enemy ships, based on the Galra flying with them, coming in from our left. And they are coming in pretty fast.” She pushed back off the window, eyes turning to Keith and Shiro.

The two black paladins nodded and Keith called out, “Let’s get to our lions! MFE fighters to your ships. Time to protect our tails. Here’s hoping the hangers aren’t affected by this blackout.”

-

Unfortunately the hanger doors refused to open, very much affected by the blackout and everyone let out a collective groan. They had the worst luck sometimes. Pidge set about a temporary override, long enough for everyone to at least vacate the ship. In one very much needed stroke of luck, the lions were unaffected and out the hangers right before the the Galra had descended upon them. Half of the attack though seemed focused on the city itself while the rest blocked the way, firing on the ship, now a sitting duck and cut off from regular communications.

“Hunk, I’m gonna need to make a path so the MFE’s can head towards the city and take care of the ships attacking the city. Pidge and Allura go to and see if you can draw their fire away.”

“On it!” Hunk chimed, Allura and Pidge weaving around the fighters closest to them.

“Lance, take out as many as you can and see if we can get the fire away from the castle. I’m gonna do the same.” Keith called into the comms, hoping his voice sounded steady.

“Got it team leader.” Lance pulled Red through a barrel roll and blasted several ships out of the sky.

The plan seemed to work fairly well, Hunk successful carving an opening in the wall of ships to let Allura and Pidge zip through as well as the MFE’s. Hunk rejoined Lance and Keith, blasting the ships tailing Red and leading some ships out of the way of the castle. Although some stayed focused there, chipping away at the ships hull with deep blasts.

“Keith, the ship is a sitting duck man.” Lance announced into the com, grunting as Red was blasted sideways.

“I know. Working on it.” He grits out, steering Black towards the ships by the castle, bayard twisting to summon the jaw blade, metal tearing against the hull of enemy ships. He was jerked by the sudden force of a blast to his back, flipping to stare directly at two enemy ships. Keith made to pull the chase back out to open fields, stopping short as the two ships were hit by the red streak of fire from the Yellow Lion.

“Got you!”

“Keith it looks like most of them are thinning out to draw us apart. I think they’re up to something else though, because they do not look affected by our current success. “ Lance reported through the com, voice sounding skeptical and blasts from the on going battle filtering in.

Keith shook his head, trying to figure out what exactly the Galra were planning here. He’d have to find out later how they had even found them all the way out here on a small planet that hadn’t been under Galra control in over two years. “Hunk, you and Lance stay together and take out what you can. Splitting us up hasn’t worked out well in the past.”

Lance came over the com, voice rough from the last hit he’d taken. “Wait, what about you Keith? You just said to not split up and I think _that’s_ a great idea.”

“I’m gonna see if try picking off any outliers out here, Black’s energy blast is pretty intense and I don’t want to accidentally hit you guys.”

“Keith! You just told us-” Lance argued back, frustration evident there. Keith watched as Hunk and Lance double teamed two Galra ships, Lance pulling back on Red to swing low under the ships while Hunk collided into the with Yellow.

“I know Lance, but Black and I will be back in just second.” He took a deep breath, trying to call out to Pidge. “Pidge, Allura! How’s it looking over there?”

“Well, we’ve managed to get the majority of the ships either down or heading your way.” Allura’s voice filtered in through the lion’s com, sounding tired but alright. Behind her everyone heard similar sounds of lasers and blast that had them all tensing. 

“There’s that but it looks like even these guys were a distraction until they could send in the cruiser guys.” Pidge sounded frustrated, voice low with anger.

“What about that hack you sent into the castle Pidge? How long till that’s running?” Keith called, hoping for some good news.

“Maybe fifteen more minutes. Whoever this was knew their way around a coding system.”

Lance and Hunk both groaned, starting to get tired of being swat around like a tennis ball and knowing a bigger ship was on the way. Keith paused, going through his options and not coming up with any ideas he liked.

“What if Allura, Pidge and the MFE’s head back these way, drawing fire to us and maybe we could form Voltron?” Lance suggested.

“We won’t be able to get a moment to actually combine though.” Hunk countered.

“Not until the ship is up.” Pidge finished sourly.

Around them the atmosphere vibrated at the cruiser flew towards the castle, setting everyone’s skin on edge and teeth grinding.

“Only one?” Hunk questioned.

“Feels like another trap.” Lance said darkly.

Taking on a cruiser wouldn’t be difficult as Voltron, but that wasn’t an option now and Keith could feel beating everyone was taking. He eyed the sole cruiser and then the remaining fighters. Maybe twenty at max? But if the cruisers started deploying more or had a major laser hooked up then they would be in trouble. So he had to act fast.

He pushed Black forward, towards the singular cruiser. “Pidge and Allura, lead the MFE pilots this way and see if you can help take out the remaining fighters over here. I’m gonna start trying to get this cruiser down. Hunk and Lance keep me covered.”

“Keith stop rushing into things!” Lance yelled over the intercom. “Wait until Allura and Pidge are here so we can actually provide cover.”

“Dude c’mon, we are so close to having the girls over here hold on.” Hunk agreed.

Keith knew the two were right, but he had to start before this cruiser could cause too much damage. He pushed Black faster, within firing range of the cruiser. “Just meet up when you can.”

“Keith!” Lance yelled, frustration and worry giving his voice a rough edge. Allura and Pidge were still miles away, their lines tiny dots while the MFE’s were barely visible next to them. “Dude!” Hunk echoed, sounding more so tired.

Keith flew between two Galra ships, dodging their blast and bringing the jaw blade down the center of both of them. They both exploded into bits of metal and flame. Moments after he made it to the ship there were more than ten ships on him and Keith let out a curse, remembering he was on his own until Hunk or Lance got there.

He blasted one straight out of the sky, pulling rapid fire maneuvers to lose and crash the others the best he could. Two more went down, a blast from the lion brought down three more. Keith grit his teeth, knowing he was pushing his lion pretty hard, when he wasn’t even at top capability. He manage to get two more to crash into each other and the last one brought down by slamming his lion straight into the side.

Free for a moment he aimed Black’s energy bean straight at the side of the cruiser’s hull, tracing a deep gash along side of it. He drove his lion towards here he knew weak spots in the integrity of the hull and aimed another blast there. He heard the powering up of a beam a second before it went off, barely feet over the lion’s head. Instead there was another blast to his side, jerking him forward harshly.

Keith urged Black forward, diving below the new ship and turning to blast a beam at it, narrowly missing. He hissed, breathing heavily.

Grateful he watched as a familiar red and yellow lion crushed the ship between them. Keith sunk back into his seat, taking a deep breath and grateful to have the reassuring presence of Lance and Hunk at his back.

“You okay Keith?” Lance called, sounding odd over his com. Keith couldn’t place the tone but gave a solid yes in response.

“Glad to see you guys.” Keith laughed tiredly, feeling better having a moment to breath.

“Yeah? That’s good because if we were much later, your ass would’ve been in trouble.” Lance ground out.

“Lance, we’ve got a battle to finish.” Hunk cautioned him, already steering his lion back and into firing range of the ship.

But now Keith was irritated, the two of them hadn’t actually fought like this in months. Keith could still be impulsive but this seemed uncalled for. “It was a gamble, but I knew you guys wouldn’t be far behind. I trust you guys. I’m fine.” He tried his best to not sound defensive but obviously Lance was trying to pick a fight and it still irked him to have Lance doubting their teamwork.

“Yeah, _this time_. Keith we’ve had this conversation before.” Lance retorted.

“There’s no conversation to be had right now Lance? I’m fine, we are fine.”

“But what if you weren’t? What if we were too late?” Lance questioned, spilling the emotions that had been building for a while now. “What if the next time we are too late and you rush off instead of listening to our words. You’re a great pilot Keith but that doesn’t mean something won’t go wrong. People care about you, love you! How do you think it feels to know that I can’t help you if something goes wrong.” A heartbeat of silence from the crew, Lance’s breathing ragged. “It would _fucking suck._ ”

Keith didn’t know how to respond, completely thrown off by the sheer raw emotions in Lance’s voice. He felt like he was getting bit further into what was bothering Lance and he hated how he couldn’t figure out how to help him or even what he was doing so wrong. He was grasping at straws and they were in the middle of a battle and he just needed to think.

“Lance look-”

A heavy hit shook both of their lions, both paladins grunting at the impact.

“Could you guys please save this for later?!” Pidge calls into the headset, the blast still reverberating in both of their heads.

“Gonna have to agree with Pidge on this one.” Hunk joins in, flying past the two, blowing holes into the cruiser.

Lance tsks from his Lion, flying off and using his own jaw blade to begin a massive hole in the side of the cruiser. “Yeah, I’m back.”

Keith just breathes heavily, confusion stuck in his brain, blindsided by the whole thing. He’d have to sort it out when they weren’t all in danger. He drove his lion forward, aiming a blast at a flyer coming for Hunk.

They land a couple more well placed hits to the cruiser, watching as chain reaction explosions go off on the ship. There still seem to be more of the ships than Keith had anticipated, but the team seems to be able to mostly avoid direct hits, delivering solid blows to the numbers. But Keith can tell they’re tiring out fast and he’s still muddled from so many emotions flooding his brain.

“Any words from the ship?” He calls.

“They should be online and running any minute.”

“Anytime would be a good time to show up.” Hunk groans out.

“Agreed.” Allura hums through the line.

Just as Keith is thinking on how to change tactics, there’s a beam of stark white energy that unsettles the cruiser. A group of cheers sound as they all turn to see their ship, hovering off the ground and blinking to life.

“This is Shiro, the castle is a go. How are you all holding up?”

There’s just a collective groan from the paladins, all exhausted.

“Shiro, can you hold them long enough for us to form Voltron?” Keith calls out, relieved to have their backs covered again.

“You got it!”

“You guys ready?” Keith calls to the team.

“ _Finally_.” Pidge deflates.

\----

Having the castle back online, supported by the MFE’s and finally forming Voltron makes quick work of the Galra cruiser and subsequent fliers. The fight lasts less than thirty more minutes and by the time the cruiser is going down over vast empty fields, the lions had disbanded and were docking.

They debrief, all offering suggestions and ideas on what had happened. Shiro splits them up sending Keith, Allura, Griffin and Kinkade to talk to the council to see if everyone was okay and gather information while Pidge, Hunk, Lance and Razvi were to double check the castle’s systems are alright. Romelle and Leifsdottir stay with Shiro and Coran, searching through any information that could prove useful to them.

Lance was glad for something to keep him busy, easily running through the motions of a castle tune up, Hunk occasionally asking him to check up on specific systems\ by pressing switches and checking wires to make sure nothing had been blown by the hack. It was easy but time consuming and honestly that’s what he needed right now.

He paused, fingers turning over a wrench absently, thinking how he had blown up on Keith today. And in the middle of a battle no less. That was a dumb move. A heavy sigh escaped him and a frown planted on his face.

He had just been so _frustrated_ when it looked like Keith was reverting back to the hotshot solo artist, one of the things that still scared Lance the most. That’s how people got hurt. That’s how Lance had died, and how Keith had almost died and Lance couldn’t handle the thought of Keith getting seriously hurt like that. Even when they were fresh faced teammates the idea of Keith being seriously hurt, not just Lance picking a fight and kicking his ass, freaked him out. He loved all of his teammates and watching them cold and unmoving in the healing pods always filled Lance with the worse sense of dread. And now, realizing that the dumbass who he was in love with, who he wanted to hold and kiss and laugh with and who frustrated the shit out of him with his sharp smiles and awkwardness that melted into endearingness, was being reckless shook him. Back in the battle, holding off the Galra ships until Allura and Pidge could get back, knowing Keith was alone and unprotected and self sacrificing and Lance couldn’t do anything, it brought up some of the same things he’d been thinking about over the last week. Lance genuinely loved Keith, and if he got hurt how would Lance even react?

Lance groaned, tossing the wrench back into the tool box, falling down beside Hunk, brain tired and body sore.

“You okay Lance?” Lance knows that Hunk knows he is very much not okay and is just offering to listen and Lance has always been grateful for that. He folds his arms, underneath his head, gazing up at the looming lions above them, each looking cold and still compared.

“My timing sucks and I put the team in jeopardy.”

Pidge snorts, adjusting her glasses but otherwise leaving her eyes glued to the computer. “You’re timing is terrible, but I get it. It’s frustrating watching people you care about doing stupid things. You could’ve picked a better time to let give Keith a piece of your mind."

Lance deflates, knowing good and well he fucked up. He had just been so frustrated and angry and hot and tired that his filter was low already. “Do you think I made it obvious that I like him?”

Hunk shrugs, his shoulders smudging bits of grease along his cheek. Lance doesn’t point it out yet, but holds a small smile back. “Dude I think Keith is even denser than you. He’s probably just confused. That was a lot to unload.”

“I know, I just. It scares me to think about him doing something stupid to get himself hurt. I don’t like the idea of any of you getting hurt.” He's still frustrated, tension deep seated in his ribs and guilt pooling in his stomach. He hates this feeling. 

“We know, I’m always grateful to see your face after a battle cause usually there’s hugs and blankets to come.” Hunk laughs, generally appreciative of Lance’s way of showing affection.

“Oh, or gaming sessions.” Pidge adds from her corner.

“He’s just probably not used to seeing you react like that. It’s been awhile since you’ve guys have actually fought.”

They are silent for a couple of minutes, the sound of keyboards tapping and the occasionally grunt from Razavi and a crash as she throws something breaking the silence.

“I should talk to him.” Lance concludes, eyes catching how Hunk and Pidge both let out sighs of relief, Pidge’s tiny hands making a tiny motion of thanks.

Lance knows that’s the right answer, feels his body jitter at the thought of talking to Keith about his fears, his feelings and about his own flaws. He can’t picture his reaction but he also can’t go on doing this alone in his head. But the idea is overwhelming and Lance needs time to process and think before he talks to Keith. “When we land on our next planet. I’ll talk to him there, cards on the table.”

Hunk groans his name, Pidge flopping dramatically onto her back and Lance shifts to his feet, brushing off imaginary dirt. He fixes both of them with a stare. “Please don’t tell Keith about this. I think I need to be the one to talk to him.”

Pidge rolled her eyes from her spot on the floor, vowing to never date. “So you’re gonna avoid him for three days and then unload that you love him? Oh boy.”

Hunk nods, eyeing his friend suspicious. “Lance, Keith is going to lose his mind.”

Lance shakes his head, arms crossing childishly. “I’m not gonna avoid him. I don’t think I could actually do that. I’m just going to be a little less caught up in my feelings about him. Back to Keith and Lance being buddies. Foolproof.”

Hunk shook his head, “I wish we could at least warn Keith, the boy is gonna have whiplash.”

The red paladin bites his lip, knowing it’s not a great plan but it’s all he got. He hopes down from his ledge wandering off to see if Rizavi needs help with anything.

Pidge shoots Hunk a clearly pointed look, eyes narrowing. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”

“You want one of us on Keith duty and one of us on Lance duty at all times the next three days?”

“Yup.”

“Defiinitely gonna make them be in the same room for at least like two hours a day.”

“Perfect.”

“Do you want Keith or Lance first?”

“Keith, he’s more easy to fluster right now.”

“Sweet.”

-

Less than twelve hours later, the castle was out in open space and everyone could breath a little easier. Thus, Pidge and Hunk commenced Operation Normalcy. It worked pretty smoothly, Hunk attaching to Lance’s side while Pidge keept tabs on Keith. It was a little ridiculous watching the straight up confusion and longing on both of their faces when they thought no one was looking though and Pidge was tempted to lock them both in a room together. Hunk considered it for a moment before waving the idea off saying they would just turn their frustrations onto him and Pidge when they got out. Not able to stand the clear hurt on Keith’s face from Lance’s apparent brush off, Pidge took pity on him, pulling him into lengthy conversations of ghost stories or talking about her brother’s hair brained schemes.

Lance and Hunk mostly stayed in the kitchens or the pool. Hunk was pretty sure Lance knew exactly what was going on, but he kept his mouth shut and followed along with Hunk’s suggestions willingly.

Lance actually did fairly well keeping a his normal goofy attitude around Keith although he did make sure to put an extra inch or two of space whenever the two stood too close. Keith for his part seemed to notice and Pidge watched as he just about threw up his hands in frustration, sulking for a while. Lance never let the conversation dip towards their last battle but continued to talk animatedly with Keith which the other seemed grateful for. Everyone made it through dinner without hitch and made it to their rooms where most of them promptly passed out.

-

The next morning Pidge went on a manhunt for Lance, the other missing from breakfast. She checked his room, relieved to find the lanky human sprawled across his bed, snoring softly. She returned with a plate of food and a glass of water, settling down to play whatever game Lance had left in the game system while she waited for him to wake up. By the time Lance actually stirred she beat four levels, and had demolished most of the snacks. The red paladin let a huge groan escaping his body, eyes adjusting and confused to find Pidge there.

“Wrong room gremlin.” He muttered, voice still heavy on his tongue. Pidge turned around, face full of food, eyes gleaming. She gulped down the bite, grinning at his exasperated expression. “Morning sunshine. Didn’t think you were ever gonna wake up. The food and water is for you just in case you decided to wake from the dead.”

Lance grunted, quickly inhaling the food and water, body aching from the delay in nourishment. Finished he placed the plate and glass back, stretching his back until he heard a pop. “What time is it?”  

Pidge wagered a guess that she’d been there for almost two hours and did the math quickly. “The ship’s clock would tell us it’s about noon.”

Lance just about choked, surprise by how late he’d slept but remembering that it had been closer to four when he finally drifted off the night before. He carded his finger through his hair, grimacing when he found the jutting up and wild. He must have look like a mess, red eyes and bed head.

“Didn’t get much sleep last night huh?”

Lance shook his head, even though Pidge was still turned to the game. “No. Spent most of the night thinking about what I’m gonna say to him.”

Pidge paused the game, turning to give her full attention to Lance. “Yeah?”

“I’m gonna come clean. How I feel, what scared me. Definitely gotta apologize for flipping out on him. Apologize for this mess.” He said motioning generally to Pidge, who stuck out her tongue in retaliation. Lance looked out towards his door, voice tired. “And hope he doesn’t run away or shut down.”

Pidge nodded, fine to let Lance come up with his own plan, seeing as how it was his relationship with Keith. “Nice. Sounds like you’ve got an idea at least.”

Lance huffed, moving to make his way to where Pidge sat, grabbing the extra controller and logging onto the game. “Yeah and I’ve already thought about all the ways he could never talk to me again.”

There was such hopelessness in his voice that it hurt and Pidge gave him a soft look, knocking his shoulder comfortingly. “It could go well for all you know Lance, you still haven’t even gotten his side.”

He shook his head, obviously not keen on that reasoning, hand running through his hair. “Right, I’d definitely want to date someone who was a complete ass to me too.” He rolled his eyes.

“Well you do, you and Keith were both assholes to each other for like the first two months we were out here. And yet you still want to date him.” She waggled her eyebrows on the word date, getting a nudged from Lance.

“Gross aren’t you like 6? You’re not even supposed to know what dating is yet.” He joked, eyeing the girl and laughing as she scrunched up her nose.

“I bet you even want to, ugh _kiss_ him.” She pretend to gag on the idea. To which Lance just nodded, eyebrow raised ridiculously high. “Yep, and I’d even hold his gross hand and tell him that he had a nice smile.”

Pidge laughed, tears in her eyes. “What next, that you even like his mullet?”

The boy shook his head dramatically, hand over his heart. “Whoa, let’s not get too outta hand here kiddo.”

They both digressed into giggles, Lance happy to know he at least had Pidge and Hunk, knowing deep down, he’d never lose Keith’s friendship but nervous at being able to be around Keith if he was in love and Keith wasn’t. He shook his head, brain having hashed through those too familiar thoughts and changed his mind to thinking about kicking Pidge’s butt at this game.

“So when are you and Hunk going to drop being our babysitters?” He asked nonchalantly, pressing play.

Pidge waved him off, eyes already on the game. “Don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Uh huh, okay what about this? I win, you let me off the hook. Keith too because I’m sure he’s figured it out.”

A smirk, eyes gleaming at the challenge. “And if I win in this hypothetical situation?”

“Free piggyback rides for a week.”

She snorted, “You know I’m not actually 6 right?”

“Fine. I’ll take you to the next closest space junkyard and make robots with you.”

“You’re on McClain!”

-

Keith stood with Hunk, watching Hunk decide between the cards in his hands, looking more so like he was choosing a card that could have an electric shocker attached to it. Keith slowly let out a long held breath through clenched teeth, _patience yields focus_. He knew what Hunk and Pidge were playing at and he was currently bidding his time until they deemed it appropriate to let the two boys back together.

So he sat with Shiro, Romelle, Allura, Coran and Hunk, playing the most complicated card game he’d ever heard of. And he was somehow currently winning to the chagrin of Allura and Hunk. The two were actually trying to understand the game, and Keith was literally tossing cards down. Occasionally he'd hear Griffin chime in his opinion as the pilot played tentatively with the space wolf. Keith found himself mostly agreeing with the other to his own chagrin. 

“Hunk you’ve got to lay down a card eventually.”

“Shhh, Allura! A master’s concentration cannot be broken.”

“Actually she’s right, if a player waits too long, the turn moves to the person across from them, so in this case Shiro.” Coran corrected, before beginning to count down from ten tics.

Flustered, Hunk began chanting “Nononono. Okay here!” He threw down a card, one that looked like an octopus with wings.

Coran and Allura gasped together while Hunk and Shiro exchanged concerned looks. “What? What did I do?”

Coran pointed to the card, explaining quickly, “That means you have to pick up three cards and now you pick someone to sing a song.”

Romelle sighed, muttering tiredly. “No wonder our colony got rid of this game. Geez.”

The yellow paladin nodded vigorously, “See I think it, you say it!”

“So who do you choose Hunk?” Coran redirected his attention to the game, pulling at his mustache.

“Ah fine. Shiro.”

Shiro sat up straighter, eyes widening “How kind of you Hunk, but I don’t really sing.”

Hunk grinned, “I know, that’s why I chose you.”

Griffin snorted, obviously amused by the antics of the paladins and he scratched at Cosmo's fluff. 

It was hilarious in Keith’s opinion at least, how betrayed Shiro looked. Keith laughed at the look on his face and how Hunk began to tease Shiro. “You not up for it, Shiro the Hero? Or should I say, Shiro the _Zero_?” Everyone gasped at the taunt, Keith full out laughing at the exchange. He could see Shiro working through his argument, conflicted by his own internal voices before he stood up and began to sing a familiar tune of from Keith’s childhood. Everyone sat in stunned silence, awed by the experience.

Finishing rather awkwardly Shiro bowed, sitting down with a small red hue at his cheeks.

“That was quite a performance Shiro!” Allura congratulated him, holding her laughter behind hand but genuinely pleased to see him joining in the game.

“Shiro the Hero it is!” Hunk laughed, applauding the other and nodding to commend the other.

“Wonderful Shiro!” Romelle added, giggling happily.

In the aftermath of the performance Keith began to straighten up, eyeing the door close to him. Maybe he could make a break for it. They wouldn’t be able to catch him and he’d already scoped out choice hiding spots. Just as he was about to bolt, the doors whooshed open and his body flooded with relief at finally seeing Lance, especially seeing his face contort on laughter, although it did seem to be directed at Pidge which could end badly.The two newcomers blinked around the room, taking in the atmosphere and the cards strewn across the table.

“What did we just miss?” Lance asked, dropping into the open spot next to Keith, still farther apart then normal but within reach and that settled his stomach a bit, still sensing something was amiss with the other but content to have Lance next to him. Lance looked to Keith for an answer, eyebrows quirked high and a small frown at his lips. Keith smirked, head motioning to Shiro, “We just got a wonderful performance form Shiro the Hero, I’m just sad I couldn’t get it on camera, it was one of his best for sure.”

Shiro shot him a humiliated glare, stretching Keith’s name out in an exaggerated groan. Keith smiled sweetly, turning to watch the game but keeping his voice low as Coran began explaining the rules to the newcomers.

“You okay? Didn’t see you at breakfast and that was a warning flag.” He leaned into Lance’s space just enough to make it clear he was talking to Lance, his voice a lower pitch than Lance had been expecting but finding the worry in his voice sweet. Lance nodded, humming his acknowledgement. “Yeah, I overslept and Pidge wanted to play a video game. And I kicked her butt.” He let a proud little smirk steal across his face and Keith chuckled.

“Did I miss anything else of importance?” Lance dug, interested in how Hunk had been keeping Keith occupied. Card games were an interesting choice mostly because Lance knew Hunk hated losing.

“Hunk has taken me to almost every spot on the castle today; the lion’s bay for check ups, the kitchen for lunch, helping Shiro with some boring information cataloging and the training deck to let me blow off steam with Kinkade and Griffin.” Keith sunk back into his seat, eyes closing from the lengthy excursions today. Lance leveled a sympathetic smile at him, placing a warm hand at his shoulder for comfort. Hunk had really worn the kid out.

Without opening his eyes, Keith mumbled back, “What did I do to Hunk? He’s trying to kill me with this babysitting me thing.”

He wasn’t surprised that Keith had figured it out, the boy was smarter than he let on sometimes. Lance thought he’d keep that bit of information to himself concerning Pidge’s loss today and their mutual freedom. “You knew.” Lance stated, not bothering to hide his own knowledge.

Keith grunted. “Those two are not subtle.”

Lance laughed, glad to be joking around with Keith rather than avoiding him. He loved Pidge and Hunk but sometimes they went about showing their love in strange ways.

“Will you tell me why I’m on house arrest?”

Lance nodded, expecting that. “Yeah I’ll tell you later samurai.”

A relieved huff escaped Keith and he simply returned to watching the show that was the card game. Although Allura and Romelle were having a staring contest and Coran was singing something peppy and upbeat in Altean. Keith shook his head in wonder, he would never understand the game honestly.

The game ended several rounds later, Pidge placing down a card covered in tiny yalmors feeding each other. Coran had clapped and congratulated the youngest paladin, giving her a customary winning dance, encouraging the others gathered to join in which Allura reluctantly does, pulling Romelle, Hunk and Shiro into it as well. Lance stands up, pulling Keith up with him and joins in, swaying his hips and clapping. Keith finds it in him to at least clap, hopeless smile at his mouth. 

The circle collapses into a giant social, everyone happy to be able to hang out for once instead of worrying about giant space battles. Razavi eventually wanders in, drawn my the noise and easily slips into the flow and ebb of conversation. Eventually Pidge brings up her theory that there was a double agent on Matkim, a waiter or something who snuck away to inform the outlying factions of Galra fighting for dominance out there that the paladins of Voltron were docked on their planet. They probably planted the bug during the dinner and returned without anyone noticing their absence the entire time. They would've know about their beach day and could hacked the system then too she reasoned, face unbiased but annoyed. 

Everyone could see the potential of the argument, no other guesses coming to their mind.

“How was everyone back in the city?” Hunk asked from his position next to Pidge, currently letting Romelle brush his hair, tying tiny braids into it.

“Shaken, but alright. They said they had Galra sympathizers in the past but thought that they had been weeded out. It does tie in with what Pidge think too. They thanked us for taking care of their city and we gave them our com devices just in case.” Allura recapped, sighing heavily at the memory, truly tired of innocent people getting hurt just because they were associated with Voltron.

“Well I’m glad we could help. A year ago everyone thought we were all dead, this seems like a good way to start getting people believing in us again.” Shiro, ever the pragmatic captain added.

“Yeah, I'm ready to get back in there, give them the ol’ Razza Dazza, right Lance?” Coran smiled, proud of himself for being so hip and in tune with the youth.

“Close, very very close Coran.” Lance smiled, mimicking the real pose. “It’s Razzle Dazzle.”

Coran tried it out, throwing in a bit of flourish and somehow throwing glitter into it too, although no one was really sure of how he had gotten a handful of glitter. Everyone laughed and Coran took a slight bow.

A lull hit the group and they all were lost to their own realm of thoughts, each recovering from the last week. Shiro leaned back, arms crossed and happily watching as Romelle laced her fingers with Allura’s, the two sharing a happy glance before Romelle rested her head upon Allura’s shoulder, eyes slipping closed. “Well it’s good to see something good came out of all that, you guys look really happy.”

Romelle flushed happily, nodding her head into Allura and gazing up at the other. “Indeed, this was a nice surprise to the night. I am quite thrilled with how the events turned out.”

“So are we gonna hear how it went down?” Hunk asked, curiosity winning over his want to respect the two’s privacy.

There was a nod from Coran, his fingers stroking over his mustache inquisitively. “Indeed! You have been rather tight lipped on this Princess, considering how you were gushing to me sometime last week.”

“Ahem, I have no idea what you are referring too Coran.” Allura denied, pink coating her cheeks and ears.

All eyes staring the couple down, Allura huffed, eyes sliding closed “Oh alright, quiznak.”

Romelle patted the other’s hand comfortingly and took the lead, starting off.

“Well, ah while we were at the market our first day there, I saw these flowers that reminded me of Allura, beautiful and strong flowers, standing proud and reaching wonderful heights. And that night I got Kinkade and James to place the flowers around a little alcove off to the side of the ballroom, with just a couple flowers left for me to give.” Romelle stared down at their joint fingers, happiness painted across the lines of her face.

After the conclusion of the formal part of dinner, I asked if Allura wanted to take a walk with me and she said yes. I gave her the flowers and lead her to the alcove and told her that I admired her and thought she was one of the brightest stars I had ever come across. And I asked her if she would like to engage in a relationship.”

Allura pecked the blonde on the cheek happily, finishing her story. “Of course I said yes, Romelle has been such an exciting and caring companion and it felt more right being with her than away from her.”

Keith felt Lance stiffen besides him, a very slight change for the usually expressive male but Keith had still felt the air shift around Lance and he looked over, surprised when Lance looked on the verge of tears. He scooted closer, voice low. “Lance are you okay?”

Head nodding rather stiffly, he wiped at the tears with his sleeves, “I’m great. Totally fine. Why do you ask? Are _you_ okay Keith?”

A fond huff escape Keith and he just smiled, Lance could be such a hopeless romantic sometimes. “Lance.” he comforted, letting the warmth in his voice stay.

“Okay fine, it’s really sweet.” Lance gave a watery smile, hiding his face with his shirt sleeve. And Keith found Lance in that moment incredibly adorable, unconsciously reaching to pull Lance down to rest against his shoulder, which seemed to make the other let loose a few tears, coating Keith’s dark shirt in saltiness.

“Don’t worry, you can cry on me sharpshooter, I’ve got you.” Keith smiled at the kind hearted boy, squeezing his shoulder comfortingly. What a sappy dork. Lance adjusted his head atop Keith’s shoulder, brain apparently offline because no warning sirens were going off in his brain even as he opened his mouth to say, “I know, it’s why I love you.”

The words were out before he could call them back, body tensing on sudden adrenaline. Keith let out a breathless “Wait, what?”

His stomach sank, heart in his throat and body chilled. He was already thinking of an exit plan because how the _fuck_ was he going to face Keith now? He felt the stiffening of Keith’s body in slow-motion, a deep inhale and his hand rigid against Lance’s shoulder. He fucked up real bad, pushing himself off of Keith like the other was made of flame before apologizing and practically catapulting himself over the couch back, running full speed out the door. Keith stared at the now empty space, trying to process what exactly had just happened. He felt his face heat, heart kicking into double time. Because had just said he loved him right? The same thing as what Keith had been thinking for days.

He closed his eyes, fingers pinching his nose.”Did everybody see that?” He asked reluctantly.

A chorus of agreement hit his ears and Keith felt like he was going to combust. He took a deep breath, knowing he had a chase on his hands and already knowing that Lance was not going to fare well after that. He hoped over the back of the couch, refusing to acknowledge the rest of the eyes on him, walking through the door and into the empty hallway.

-

Lance knew that figuratively and literally running from your problems was a dumb idea, but after feeling the moment Keith froze under him, catching a brief glance at the shock that knocked most of Keith’s expression blank and the immediate ‘oh fuck’ that his brain supplied, he was already bolting before the world could catch back up to him. He ran down the castle’s maze of hallways without thinking, letting his legs run on memory and body focused solely on getting the fuck out.

 _How could he have let that slip_? He had a plan in mind, one he was completely prepared for and then his mouth had opened and spit out that. Sure he had been incredibly swept up by how sweet the Romelle and Allura date was, happy for the two in their own right. And a part of him had hurt, his brain having hashed out the same feelings he had for Keith that the two had for each other, but coming up with a way worse ending. And stupid, caring Keith had been comforting in his nonchalantly way and it had broke Lance’s heart just a little too much to stay silent. A small righteous voice within Lance’s head whispered that he should talk to Keith, like he planned, the boy simply shook the thought, knowing he would have to but needing a moment to fall apart before figuring out what to do about Keith.

He didn’t see where he was going, vaguely aware he’d made a couple of turns and completely unaware of anything but the burning in his lungs, the clench of disappointment digging in his chest up through his throat and the squeak of his shoes as he hit the floor, running like he was back on the Garrison track team. Eventually he crashed through a door, finding the nearest seat and collapsing there. And in the stillness of the castle, heart beating violently against his chest, lungs pulling desperate air through his deprived body and body straight up quivering from exertion and emotional strain, Lance felt the hot tears that had been at the edges of his vision finally fall, creating hot tracks over his cheek.

_What a goddamn mess._

-

The new castle ship was somehow even bigger than the original castle of lions and that left a lot of choices for where Lance could possibly have run off to. Keith listened to the quiet of the halls, hoping to hear the _tap tap tap_ of footsteps or any sign of where the other had taken off to. Lance had a head start anyways and with his long legs and his willpower Keith figured he could be halfway to the other side of the ship.

He tried to reason it out for a minute, at least trying to narrow down his options. Lance wouldn’t be obvious enough to head back to his room, too easy of a guess and not a secure space for him to try and calm down. The kitchen was out too, as was the dinning room, but still leaving entire floors of the ship with numerous doors and alcoves to hide in. Keith grit his teeth, thinking through all the spots Lance could’ve ended up would be time consuming and he needed to see the other soon, his body flushing through anxiety and hopefulness and confusion and he figured the only way to sort through these waves of emotions would be talking with Lance himself. In the end he simply followed his feet, figuring Lance would’ve done the same, and hung a left towards the bow of the ship.

He didn’t tell his body to run, his legs automatically picking up speed on their own and his breathing becoming long and deep to compensate for the energy exerted. He kept his ears open, listening for any telltale signs of the other, occasionally sniffing the air to see if he could catch the faint scent of whatever bodywash the other insisted upon using that just distracted the hell out of Keith.

It would be helpful if his space teleporting wolf was here, he thought sarcastically, only slightly miffed that Cosmo was currently nowhere to be found in the exact time Keith could use his help. Pretty soon Keith came up on one of the many splits of the castle hallways, left towards the pool and right towards the command deck. Keith didn’t think about it, his body pulling him towards the right, thinking about how soothing the vastness of space might be for someone who was trying to get out of their own brain for a bit. The decision obvious to him and with a clear mind Keith picked up speed, knowing he was close to the deck.

Before he even pushed open the massive doors he could smell the faint trace of bodywash and the muffled voice inside. The relief that washed over Keith was instant, all encompassing and he almost collapsed from it. He just hoped he wasn’t late enough that Lance had already made up his stubborn mind on something without at least talking to Keith.

Heart in his throat, Keith pushed his way inside the command bay, greeted by an emptiness that he wasn’t expecting. Everything looked like it hadn’t been touched, controls dim as the overhead lights. But even as he opened his mouth to call out for Lance he noticed the sound of soft breathing to his right, spotting a long leg draped over the side of a control chair. Keith smirked, glad to see any sign of Lance.

Much slower than his sprint out in the hall, Keith made his way over to the chair, hands tugging at his ruffled strands of hair, ultimately deciding there was no redemption there, instead letting out a cough, giving Lance a small heads up that he was there so the other wouldn’t freak out.

“Hey.” He said, rounding the chair's high sides, staring down at a lumpy mess of jacket and legs and space wolf. Lance looked up at him, eyes tired and red rimmed, as sight that Keith had seen far too frequently over the last couple of days. Lance’s hair was a mess, flung out in all directions and some sticking sweatily to his forehead. His clothes didn’t fare much better, although they were crumpled up by the giant space wolf snuggled there. Cosmo looked at the newcomer with a small smile and a brief tail wag before burying his head under Lance’s chin.

“Hey.” Lance murmured back, voice tired and hoarse from tears already shed. He averted his gaze, looking unfazed by Keith’s presence as if he had expected the pilot to pop up here. He idly traced patterns into Cosmo’s thick fur, biting anxiously at his already reddened lip.

Keith realized he had absolutely no idea what he had wanted to say, all of it gone in a flash after finally seeing Lance again, obviously still in one piece but looking so broken that it knocked all the thoughts from his mind.

“You found Cosmo. He seems pretty attatched to you.” He tried as an icebreaker, still trying to piece together how he wanted to tell Lance, knowing what he felt for the other but not having a real plan for it until it slipped from Lance’s mouth.

Lance scoffed, fingers rubbing under the wolf’s chin soothingly. “He found me, and decided I wasn’t moving apparently.” Lance furrowed his brows, hating the weird small talk, one of the things he’d been actively trying to avoid since discovering his affection for the mullet boy. He sighed tiredly, eyes staying put on Cosmo. “I guess I owe you an explanation.”

Keith lowered himself to the ground, criss-crossing his legs comfortably and looking up at the tired lines of Lance’s tanned skin. God he looked exhausted. Keith felt terrible for whatever hand he had to play in that. He shrugs, interested and very much wanting to know about Lance using 'love' in correlation with him, but currently more concerned with Lance himself.

“Eventually, yeah I agree. But Lance whatever is going on, I just want you to know you aren’t alone in this.” He keeps his eyes trained on Lance, who shuts his eyes against the sound of Keith’s voice, looking ready to vomit. Keith’s eyebrows raise, concern evident in his voice. “Lance?”

The other takes a breath, turning his head to watch Keith, “That’s exactly the problem though.”

“Me being here is a problem?” Keith asks, trying very hard not to be offended, voice flat.

“Ugh, yes and no I guess.” Lance tangles a hand through his hair, face creased on concentration.

“I very much want you here, definitely. But you being here is difficult because I’m making it difficult.” Lance tries, hand gesturing vaguely along with his words. Keith only blinks, not quite comprehending the words.

“You want me here though?” Keith takes the statement apart, hoping to gain some insight into the inner workings of Lance’s mind. He nods, hair flipping with the movement.

“But I did something that makes it difficult to be around me because you won’t let it go?” He tried, not particularly happy at the guess but trying.

“No no no no. You didn’t do _anything_ but exist and that’s great but I’m having a hard time with it.”

Keith can’t help but stare. “You have a problem with me existing?”

Lance flushes, frustration making him groan.

“Noooo. I am glad you exist. But I have these, feelings in me that make it hard to be around you sometimes. No that didn’t come out right.” He pushes his palms into his eyelids, body tense and definitely overthinking. So much for being the one good at talking. Lance takes another steadying deep breath, looking up towards the stars clearly visible outside of the ship’s giant windows.

“Remember that surprise attack from the Galra? I said some pretty harsh things when you went off on your own, something along the lines of do you know how much it would suck if you went off on your own and got hurt?”

Keith nods, very clearly remembering that moment, relieving it frequently enough from trying to figure out where Lance was going with that.

“Well there was a whole second half of that speech brewing but we were in the middle of a goddamn battle and I almost lost you again and..” Lance trails off, emotion thickening his voice.

“Being in love sucks Keith. Especially when the people you love do stupid things like ignoring the people who care about them and then rush off to do dangerous things.” He looks at Keith with so much sadness and resignation and Keith feels his world drop.

“I love you Keith, but goddamnit does it hurt when I know it’s just me and that our friendship isn’t worth messing up over my feelings.”

Lance's smile is watery and Keith is moving before he can think it through, he’s reaching up, pushing back sweaty bangs, watching his lashes shut, forehead crinkling.

“What makes you think it’s just you sharpshooter?” He brushes his thumb over the smooth skin there, confidence building in his chest, because he knows the right answer already, there since the first time he took a moment to take Lance at face value, getting to know the weird boy from Cuba with a heart of gold and a ridiculous bright smile.

“Look, it caught me off guard during the fight because you sounded so angry and sad and I haven’t heard that kind of heat from you directed at me in a while. I’m sorry I keep doing dangerous things, it’s always for a good reason.” He sighs, head dropping as he realizes how much this has been bothering Lance, guilt creeping warmly against his shoulders.

“Which doesn’t excuse it. But I do care about you, and your feelings. Talking has always been your strong point, not mine.”

Lance has just been staring at him, eyes tracking over the expanse of his face, mouth dropped open in a small ‘o’. Cosmo tucks himself on the chair beside Lance, allowing the other to completely swing to sit up, head brushing Keith’s.

“What?” He asks rather anticlimactically and Keith wants to pull the other down, kiss him until he understands what Keith is trying to say.

“The love thing, it’s not one sided."

That wasn't the smoothest way of saying it but it's effective in getting his point across based on the deep red bloom in Lance's face.

"How long ago did you figure it out anyways?” He wonders absently, watching the flicker of emotions on the other's face. Keith chuckles at the guilty looking on Lance’s face.

“About a week ago, I wanted to kiss you goodnight that night we stayed up most like four hours after everyone called it a night.” Lance admits.

“Is that why you were acting so weird after that?” Keith sees the connection finally and does his best not to laugh.

Lance nods, face red. “Yeah, I freaked out because I had never consciously thought about it but when it hit me I realized how much I wanted to do things like kiss you goodnight. I even told Hunk about it at the ball.”

“I uh, will admit that I heard a bit of that. I didn’t know you were talking about me though. “ Keith admits sheepishly, finger rubbing over his knuckles trying to calm himself.

Lance doesn’t look surprised, dropping his head into Keith’s shoulder. “Fuck, I knew it.”

The two stay like that, both just breathing in each other, so incredibly disbelieving that they were happy and together. Lance turns his head into the crook of Keith’s neck, breath coming out hot and steady. “You really, like me too? Like this isn’t some fever induced dream brought on by lack of sleep.” He sounds childish and he finds himself unbothered by it when Keith hums, voice vibrating against Lance’s head resting there.

“Yeah Lance, I love you too you dork.”

Lance breaks into a smile, “I want to kiss you.” It’s a slip, again something unconscious but from his heart. Keith is thankful the other wants the physical affection he’d been craving over the last couple of days, now having the freedom to do so. He places his hand at Lance’s chin, moving back onto the heels of his feet and pulling Lance into a warm press of lips. Lance’s hands drop to his shirt front, grasping for support and he hums at the surprise.

It's pleasant for sure, satisfying to have the feel of Lance there, lips warm and solid. It's very tame for all the emotions the two have been through over the last week but neither increases pressure or even moves. His hands at Keith's chest keep him anchored while the rest of his world seems to spin.

Keith let’s Lance pull back first, several long seconds later, face on fire and eyes bright.

“You just kissed me?”

“You literally just said that’s what you wanted.” Keith holds back from rolling his eyes, smirk having to suffice. He sees Lance’s eyes travel to where his scar stands, healed but a reminder of the not always perfect space adventures. “Uh, can I?” He lifts his fingers lift to demonstrate his point and Keith nods, a breath caught in throat because he didn’t know Lance had even thought about it. Overheated fingers brush against his chin and cheek, touch barely there but a grounding experience. Lance leans in cautiously, letting Keith stop him if he wants, until his lips replace his fingers, placing a small innocent kiss there. He pins Keith with a look, full of command. “Please stop almost dying.”

Keith barks out a laugh, lacing Lance’s free hand through his. “Coming from the one who actually did die?”

“It was one time.” He shrugs dismissively, other hand fluffing Cosmo’s fur absently.

“That is usually all it takes.” Keith points out.

“Not for Shiro.” Lance counters.

“That’s not your best argument there.”

“But it is a valid point. He’s died like how many times?” Lance teases and Keith groans before drops his head into Lance’s shoulder. He takes a deep breath and catches the twinkling gaze of Lance’s eyes.

“How about we both try not to die, okay?”

“Fine, Mullet.”

They somehow end up sitting on the floor, bodies pressed together from shoulder to foot, hands clasped together over their makeshift cosmic wolf blanket who has draped himself over their laps. Keith’s head is resting on top of Lance’s shoulder, Lance head resting on Keith’s with a satisfied grin on his face. The two seem to have no desire to break skin to skin contact and it breathes a all encompassing happiness through him. Until he remembers how he left the room of all his friends before this.

He stiffens slightly, embarrassed. Keith moves his head enough to acknowledge Lance’s discomfort. “What’s wrong?”

“So ah, did like everyone hear what I said?”

“Absolutely.” Keith agrees without missing a beat. Lance cringes, not ready to face the crew later.

Keith just tightens his grip against Lance, readjusting more comfortably into the crook of Lance’s neck. “It’s fine, most of them knew anyway. I talked to Shiro about it a while ago, Romelle guessed so Allura probably knew too, Hunk and Pidge caught me staring at you a couple of times anyways. Coran just probably knows. And Rizavi and Griffin were there so they've probably told the other MFE pilots already.”

Lance groans, face hot because how in the world did this get so out of hand? He literally found out less than two weeks ago and now the entire ship knew. _Dios mío._

Keith just chuckles, the sound warm and full of affection. “We’ll be fine Lance.”

Sitting in the starry glow of unfamiliar galaxies, Keith pressed up beside him and hand warm in his own, he just might believe it.


End file.
